Tactics
by ntc
Summary: Reno will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Cloud finds this out the hard way. A prequel of sorts to ‘Snapshots’. Final chapter up.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Reno will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Cloud finds this out the hard way. A prequel of sorts to 'Snapshots.'

**A/N: **This story is dedicated to **EvanNJames**, a most supportive reviewer who had expressed a wish to read more FFVII fics from me. While this is a side-story of my other fic 'Snapshots', it can also be read as a stand-alone, with more fluff and less angst. Enjoy.

**Tactics**

**A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by ntc**

_Mission objective: Cohabitation with Cloud_

''I believe this belongs to you.''

Rufus spared only a cursory glance at the chagrined trussed-up Turk deposited on the carpeted floor of his office before redirecting his cool gaze at the person who had spoken.

"I do believe it is, yes. Now what has it done this time? ''The president of the Shinra corporation might as well have been discussing the weather, for all the tone and inflection (or lack thereof) in his voice.

"The same. Breaking and entering.'' The swordsman raked his fingers through his blond spikes in a gesture of frustration. "This is the third time this month, Rufus. Can't you keep your dogs on a shorter leash?"

"Unfortunately, not all dogs obey their masters. Some are too stubborn and headstrong to be tamed completely." Rufus's next words came out with the deadly undertone of a blade sliding out of its sheath. ''Seeing how you've gone through the trouble of returning my disobedient pet, I will do what I can to make sure that it doesn't trespass upon your property again."

"Make sure that you do," replied the blond curtly as he turned to leave. Before stepping out of the room, however, the swordsman cleared his throat and said over his shoulder, "Just don't hurt him... too much, okay?"

Rufus raised an eyebrow at the trace of out-of-place concern he detected in that last sentence. However, the door slammed shut before he could question the blond further. Shaking his head in partly amusement but mostly exasperation, he leisurely walked around his table to stand before the lanky man currently squirming on his office floor.

"Haven't you embarrassed me enough in this lifetime, Reno? When are you going to learn to quit?" Rufus knelt down and, none too gently, tore the duct tape off the red-haired Turk's mouth so that he could speak. The action would have been more painful if Reno had not deliberately clean-shaved his face that morning. Trust the Turk to prepare for every eventuality.

Reno at least had the decency to look abashed. "I'll quit when what I do is no longer considered 'breaking and entering'.''

"What do you have against that five-star condominium of yours anyway? I can't foresee Strife letting you live with him in that broke-down church anytime soon. Or ever. Stop wasting your time."

''You heard what he said at the end.'' Reno had by now pulled out the serrated knife strapped to his ankle and, with well-practised ease, begun sawing through the ropes that bound him. "He only pretends to be a frigid hard-ass. Unlike me, he still has a conscience. He'll give in, sooner or later.''

Rufus's eyes narrowed and his expression turned almost contemplative. Where in Gaia was Reno getting all this disgusting optimism? What happened to the cynical, paranoid bastard he knew? "Take my advice and quit messing with his head. We both know how fragile his psychological state is. It is only a matter of time before he snaps and fatally skewer you if you continue to annoy him like this."

The ropes fell off as Reno drew himself up to his full height indignantly. "I am not annoying him.''

"Who are you trying to kid? You know very well that if there is a police force around here that's worth a damn, he would have filed a restraining order on you already." When Reno's jaw jutted out even more defiantly, Rufus had to suppress the urge to smack his mule-headed subordinate upside the head in an attempt to literally knock some sense into that thick skull. Or better yet, get Rude to do it, seeing how the bald man had more muscle on him. "Do you have a death wish that I don't know about? Why else would you persist in harassing the one man capable of killing a demi-god who nearly destroyed the entire planet? He'll kill you one of these days, Reno. In self-defence, no less. Now, that thought wouldn't bother me at all if it isn't so difficult to find a replacement Turk nowadays..."

The look Reno directed at him was decidedly sour but it slid off Rufus like water off a duck's back. The Turk scoffed at his warning. "Cloud would never do that.''

Rufus marvelled at Reno's confident tone. He had long suspected that there was more going on between his bodyguard and the aloof swordsman than Reno had chosen to let on. "The Cloud you knew in the past may not. But can you say the same for the one now?'' He knew that he had hit the nail on the head when Reno became silent. "There's a big difference between the naïve waif he once was and the jaded fighter he currently is. If you think—"

"I don't care," interrupted Reno, his eyes flashing with determination. "I won't let anyone stop me. Even you, Rufus. You can dock my wages for a week and force me to remain sober for a month and it won't change anything. I won't give up."

Rufus would have liked to remind Reno that he was capable of much more exquisite torture than that but he decided to drop it in favour of sticking to the subject at hand. He sighed as he walked back to his desk. "Fine, I won't stop you."

Body tense and rigid, Reno eyed him suspiciously. Rufus was never known to be a forgiving man when it came to people who defied him. "You're okay with this? I mean, you're not even going to punish me or anything?" When Rufus turned to fix him an even, vaguely threatening gaze, Reno hastily added, "Not to say that I deserve any punishment, mind you! I'm just…"

"Quit your blabbering before I change my mind." Rufus had picked up a sheet of paper and begun writing on it.

"Change your mind, sir?" Ah, the formality of speech was back— a sure sign that Reno was nervous. Good. Rufus enjoyed making other people nervous around him. "What have you decided…?"

"I told Strife that you would not trespass upon his property anymore, and I intend to keep my word." At this, Reno opened his mouth to protest, only to be silenced effectively by a piercing glare from his boss. When Reno meekly held his tongue, Rufus nodded approvingly and continued, "What you choose to do is your business, Reno. I have no objections as long as you accept all the consequences of your foolish actions. But what I do object to is your embarrassing failure rate. It is quite damaging to Shinra's reputation to have one of its top security personnel carted back to its main office like cattle to slaughter time and again." Reno opened his mouth again, no doubt feeling the need to defend his pride, but Rufus forestalled his outburst by slicing the air before him sharply with his hand. "For goodness's sake, Reno, you're a Turk. So, act and think like one. If the front door is barricaded, smash it open. If that doesn't work, look for a backdoor or an underground passage, or create one if there isn't one. If those options are out, blackmail or bribe whoever else is inside to open the door for you. Failing even that, there's always the option of burning the whole frigging construction down so that whoever's inside would have to come out or get roasted to death. What you're doing wrong is that you're using the same lame method, and failing, repeatedly." Rufus handed the paper he had written on to Reno with a self-satisfied smirk. "Allow me to demonstrate how it should be done. Bring this to Reeve and he will know what to do."

Surprise and gratitude warred with each other for dominance on Reno's face when he read what was on the paper. "Sir, this… I… How can I ever thank you?"

"Don't thank me. You're the one who's going to foot the bill." Rufus dismissed the Turk with a shooing motion of his hand. "Now go away. You've already wasted enough of my precious time."

"Aye, Boss," answered Reno with a wide grin before he darted out of the room.

Rufus felt a microscopic twinge of guilt for what he had just inflicted on one unsuspecting Cloud Strife, but he quickly swatted the feeling away like the annoying fly that it was. He owed the blond no favours after all, whereas Reno, despite his multiple flaws, had managed to save Rufus's life more than once. Rufus was many things— ruthless, cold, calculative and cunning— but 'ungrateful' was never one of them. His conscience was clear.

xXxXxXx

The head of Shinra's Department of Urban Development frowned as he shifted his gaze between the written instructions in his hand and the beaming Turk across his desk.

Reno's smile faltered as he grew increasingly impatient. "Is there a problem?"

Reeve shook his head. "Technically, no. However, I am curious as to why you would want something like this. You don't exactly strike me as the religious type…"

"Hell no." Reno's face twisted into an expression of someone who had bitten into a sour plum. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

Reeve's expression turned thoughtful. "Then why would you…?"

"Purely personal reasons," replied Reno evasively.

"You know, I've heard from a few of my sources that a particular blond swordsman has been seen visiting this church quite often. There is some speculation that he might have even set up permanent residence there."

"Once a spy, always a spy, eh, Reeve?" Reno's snide comment had the desired effect, causing Reeve to flush in shame. "Your sources are correct. I've verified the authenticity of this information myself. Several times, in fact."

"I won't beat around the bush then." Reeve took a deep breath in a feeble attempt to steel his nerves. The mild-mannered Shinra employee was never suited for direct confrontations. Heck, the man even had to rely on a robotic cat to fight his battles for him. "What are your intentions with regards to Cloud Strife, Reno?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I just so happen to enjoy ruffling his feathers." Reno kept his tone careless and nonchalant, in the hopes of concealing his true intentions.

Reno was genuinely startled when Reeve slammed his hands loudly on the wooden desk, the flush on his face now tinged with anger. "Seek your amusement elsewhere and stay away from him, Reno." The warning was issued through tightly clenched teeth. "The poor guy has been screwed over enough times by Shinra without you adding to the count. Let the man live the rest of his life in peace. We owe him that much at least."

Reeve sure knew when to choose the worst possible moment to grow a backbone and develop mother-hen tendencies. It was a well-known fact that Reeve's loyalty had long been divided between the Shinra Corporation and the rebel group that was created to bring about its downfall; so it was not entirely unexpected that Reeve would take action to deflect any perceived threat towards Cloud. Reno waved his hands in a placating gesture. What was it about him that made people want to keep him as far away from Cloud as possible? They're treating him as if he was a dangerous spark, with Cloud being a potentially explosive powder keg. "I'm not going to hurt him, Reeve." Reno's voice was soft in its sincerity. "I would never hurt him."

"How can you be so sure? You don't know him—"

"I won't slay his loved ones and rip apart his identity like Sephiroth." Reno's voice hardened with conviction. "And I won't die and leave him alone like Zack. I promise you that."

Reeve was finally convinced by what he saw in Reno's determined eyes. There was no denying that the red-haired Turk truly understood Cloud Strife on some deep level. "You won't die?" said Reeve in wry amusement. "Care to share the secret of immortality with the rest of us mortals?"

"You know what I mean," snapped Reno irritably. "All I need to do is outlive him. I would make sure of it."

"Forgive me if that claim of yours doesn't exactly put my fears to rest. You could always outlive someone by speeding up that person's death with foul play."

"You know what I mean!" yelled the redhead, his good humour dwindling fast.

"Now, now. Don't get your knickers in a twist." When Reno began squawking in indignation, the corners of Reeve's mouth threatened to tug upwards in a small smile despite his best efforts to suppress it. Perhaps Reno was just what the doctor ordered. Cloud could definitely use more smiles and laughter in his life. Reeve had never seen the blond perform either of those two actions in all the time that he had known him. That couldn't be too healthy. Reeve closed his eyes and made a silent appeal for Cloud's forgiveness. "Give me a couple of days and I'll have the necessary paperwork completed for you."

It was just as well that Reeve had his eyes closed, for Reno's blindingly bright smile returned at full force.

xXxXxXx

Rufus was a big, fat liar. That was the conclusion that Cloud reached when he returned to find his sanctuary invaded by a smug-looking Reno, who was busy directing a couple of furniture movers where to place a sleek, black leather sofa. The wooden floorboards had been coated with a layer of glossy varnish and waxed clean. Hammering noises could be heard coming from above, where a few tilers were working on patching up the huge hole in the roof. The idiots! That hole was the only thing letting enough sunshine into the church for the nourishment of Aeris's bed of flowers.

_The flowers!_ Cloud's thoughts darkened as his panic set in. If any of those idiots had dared to desecrate those flowers that Aeris had so lovingly nurtured, blood would definitely be spilled. And it would not be his.

Cloud's relief at finding at least that part of the church untouched was short-lived, for his fury was quick to take over. Grabbing a fistful of Reno's collar and tugging his face lower so that he could blast a chilling death glare at the smirking Turk's face, Cloud hissed, "Explain. Now."

Reno's expression became blank for a moment, as if he was mentally debating over some decision. Then his face suddenly moved closer towards Cloud's, forcing the blond to let go of the Turk and take a step backwards in order to avoid the crashing of their lips. Reno's action was nothing short of disturbing, and easily misconstrued as an attempt at a kiss. However, that thought was so ludicrous that Cloud shook it off the moment it took form in his mind. Reno specialized in acting unpredictably to catch his opponents off-guard, and in this case, Reno had succeeded in getting Cloud to release him with very little effort. Damn, the Turk was good.

With an extended finger, Cloud stabbed Reno's chest hard enough to earn him a grimace. "You have ten seconds to convince me not to tie your ankles to an anvil and drop you somewhere so deep that Rufus could never hope to find your remains."

Reno appeared amused rather than afraid. "Leave the threats to the professionals, Cloud." The look of amusement morphed into a shameless leer. "If you beg prettily enough, I might even give you a few pointers one day."

Cloud could feel his stomach turn queasy with a sensation one gets from having a herd of proverbial butterflies stampeding across it with bullish ferocity. Or maybe it was just nausea. Whatever the case, Cloud quickly masked his conflicted reactions to Reno's crude teasing with a fierce scowl. "Two seconds."

Reno wordlessly took a document from an inner pocket of his jacket and shoved it inches before his face. Cloud's eyes widened considerably as they read the deed to the church that was currently held in Reno's hand.

Cloud was wrong about Rufus. Rufus wasn't a big, fat liar. Rufus was a pure evil incarnate who could give the devil a good run for his money. There was no doubt that Rufus absolutely, positively and utterly hated him with a passion that could set a city ablaze.

"Sooo…" drawled Reno with all the satisfaction of a gloating winner. A winner who had cheated and gotten away with it. "Legally, right now, I am the rightful owner of this place whereas you're the trespasser. However, since I'm not a heartless icicle like you, I shall be gracious and allow you to live on _my_ property."

Cloud growled so menacingly that, for a while, Reno feared that the blond fighter would pull a Red XIII on him and tear into his throat with his incisors. Reno bravely stood his ground despite his fears. Dying in Cloud's hands might not be such a bad way to go. At least that would guarantee him a permanent place in the blond's memories and maybe compete with the ones regarding a certain raven-haired, buster sword-wielding SOLDIER. _Yes_, Reno admitted with a mental sigh, _I am that pathetic_.

With a grunt and a look that would have killed if it was even remotely possible, Cloud pushed past the redhead and stomped towards his belongings which were kept in a corner of the church. Cloud's possessions were meager at best (and Reno knew this because he had dug through them all), consisting of duffel bag stuffed with clothes and toiletries and a wooden chest full of high-quality Materia. Reno wholly expected Cloud to sling the bag and chest over his shoulders and storm out of the place, so he had taken the necessary steps to pre-empt this.

Cloud's aura changed from extremely angry to downright murderous when he discovered that both bag and chest were empty. Reno broke out in cold sweat under the onslaught of palpable rage emanating from the blond, but he still managed to maintain a façade of equanimity. "You thieving bastard!" Cloud swore, trembling with what could only be strongly suppressed violent intentions. "Reno, so help me if you don't return my things this instant, I'm gonna…"

"How much are they worth to you, Cloud?" Reno cut in before the tirade could run its full course. It was bargaining time.

"What?" A trace of confusion crept into Cloud's anger-laden growl.

"Let me rephrase that." Yup, it really was a good thing that Reno's conscience had already bade him a final farewell many, many years ago. It made certain despicable acts so much easier to execute. "What are you willing to do to get them back?"

Narrowing his sky blue eyes into hostile slits, Cloud growled out, "You mean, what am I willing to do **to you** to get them back."

"Uh, no, that's not really what… I… meant…" Reno gulped as Cloud, in the millisecond that it took for his eyes to blink, had unsheathed his Ultima Weapon and had pressed the sharp edge against the fragile skin of his neck.

The workers in the vicinity (who were hired by Reno to aid him in his home invasion) had paused to gawk at the pair in horrified fascination. The part of Reno which wasn't distracted by his life flashing before his eyes was snorting in disdain at their spectators' behaviour. _Pfft, as if they haven't seen someone about to have their head lobbed off their shoulders before. Country bumpkins the whole lot of them._

"How much is your life worth to you, Reno?" For the first time, Reno fully appreciated how Sephiroth must have felt as he faced Cloud in their final duel; as he looked death in the eye and knew, with a visceral certainty, that his life would soon be snuffed out.

Reno gave Cloud a wan smile. "Not very much, if you're not there to share it with me." Cloud really had changed; but that didn't change anything for Reno. What Reno had wanted all along, and still wanted, had always remained the same.

"Cloud, I..."

Cloud, however, had no intention of letting the redhead finish. Perhaps on some subconscious level, Cloud knew that whatever Reno was about to say would only complicate their already complicated relationship, and it was something he really wanted to avoid. In a swift and somewhat hasty swing, the flat side of Cloud's sword connected with Reno's skull with a resounding clang.

Dazed but essentially uninjured, Reno dumbly watched as Cloud turn his back on him and sank the tip of his sword blade into the gap between two specific floorboards. Just as Reno was wondering why Cloud was deliberately vandalizing the church floor, he saw the blond pulled out something from below the upraised floorboards.

When Cloud turned to glower darkly at him, a grey metal box was cradled in the crook of his arm. "You want the Materia so badly, you can keep them," he bit out furiously. "In exchange, I want at least a mile between us at all times."

Reno's eyes were riveted on the box as if it held the secrets of the universe or, at the very least, one inscrutable Cloud Strife. He was so distracted that he failed to reply until Cloud started walking past him on his way out. His curiosity roused, Reno could only come up with one question. "What's inside that box?"

Cloud gave him a guarded look. "Gil,'' he said after a moment's hesitation. "Why? You want it too? Haven't you robbed me enough?"

The former AVALANCHE leader definitely needed some pointers in the lying department as well. It made absolutely no sense for someone who would carelessly leave priceless Materia lying around to take so much precaution in keeping a small box of gil safe. "Really?" said Reno with a skeptical sniff. "Then you wouldn't mind switching it for a chest of Materia that would fetch you enough gil to buy a house."

Cloud stared at him in disbelief. "You're using _my things_ to bargain with me? Have you no speck of shame or decency in that blackened heart of... Oh, I forgot, you're a **Turk**." Cloud pronounced the last word with the same amount of repugnance one would normally reserve for organisms that live in sewage tanks.

"And proud of it," said Reno with an unrepentant smirk. "So, how about it?" Reno boldly reached out for the box…

…only to wind up hitting his head on the flat side of the Ultima Weapon again. This time, the impact was hard enough to cause Reno to see double as he looked up at Cloud from his supine position on the ground. Cloud clutched the box to his chest tightly as he strode out of the church, never once looking back.

In the next few minutes, Reno was only vaguely aware of the people peering down at him worriedly and asking him stupid questions like 'How many fingers am I holding up now?' (It's six of course! He's not frigging blind!)

How could such a brilliant, foolproof plan fall through so miserably? What was he to do with this derelict old church now that the sole reason why he had bought it in the first place had left?

And most importantly, what was inside that damned box?

_(To be continued)_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: **Reno will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Cloud finds this out the hard way. A prequel of sorts to 'Snapshots.'

**A/N:** When nearly a month had passed by without a single review, I was convinced that no one was following the story. Then when the reviews started trickling in, I thought, 'Gosh, there are people reading this fic after all. This means I'd better get off my lazy bum and start writing again.' So, for all of you who are reading (and hopefully reviewing) this story, you have my sincerest thanks.

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII characters belong to SquareSoft, now known as SquareEnix… I think. Whatever the case, I don't own them.

**Tactics**

**A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by ntc**

_Mission objective: Cohabitation with Cloud_

"So you're the thief who stole my Materia."

Bleary-eyed from too many nights of drinking himself into an inebriated stupor, it took a few moments for the irate ninja girl's face to swim into focus. When it did, Reno was only able to offer an intelligent reply of 'Eh?' and belch.

The Wutaian teenager gagged at the alcohol-laced stench that wafted up into her nostrils and hurriedly backed out of range. Being right in someone's face greatly increased the intimidation factor but it did have its disadvantages. "Those Materia you took from Cloud belong to me," the girl declared, voice now nasally as she spoke through a pinched nose. "He was merely keeping them safe for me."

''Huh." Reno's monosyllabic grunt somehow managed to convey just how utterly unconvinced he was.

Hearing the loud but silent sarcastic 'Yeah, right' in Reno's tone, the brunette brandished her massive shuriken threateningly. "It's true! Now are you going to hand them over or do I have to make you?"

From the fact that the girl was able to sneak past the guards and disable his self-customized home security system to accost him in his own apartment, Reno could tell that a direct confrontation with her would spell more trouble than it's worth. Therefore, he abandoned his initial plan of treating her like another piece of his furniture and forced himself to converse with her in an almost civilized manner. ''For your information, Cloud gave those Materia to me," Reno growled, his brain conveniently screening out superfluous details of the underhanded means by which that came about. And never mind the fact that he had absolutely no intention of, as Cloud's condition dictated, keeping a mile between himself and the blond.

Eyes bugging out in disbelief, outrage and maybe even a tiny measure of hurt, the ninja girl gasped, "He... WHAT?!"

Reno arched an eyebrow at the vehemence of her reaction. "You heard me. You can ask Cloud himself if you don't believe me."

The girl swayed on her feet, as if Reno's words were physical blows that had hit her like a sledgehammer. However she quickly snapped shut her sagging jaw and glared skeptically at the bored-looking redhead. "Hah! Nice try, Shinra scum. Do you really think I'm so gullible as to fall for such a ridiculous lie? Why would he just hand over something like that to you of all people? It makes no sense whatsoever!''

Reno shrugged. "Think about it. Why else would I still have those Materia with me? If Cloud wanted to claim back what's his, he would have done so already.''

A trace of doubt crept into the shorthaired brunette's visage. "Huh... Well, I bet he must've left you with some substandard, worthless Materia that wouldn't even be fit for... for..." The girl found herself unable to focus on what she was saying as her eyes became riveted on the glowing orb that the Turk was casually tossing from one hand to another. She swallowed loudly and pointed with a trembling finger. "That... That can't possibly be a—"

"Summon Materia," Reno finished with gloating smile. ''A Bahamut one, to be precise."

Face taking on a ripe-plum shade of purple and chest heaving in the first stages of hyperventilation, she excused herself to retreat to the balcony, where she proceeded to shriek out a long string of Wutaian obscenities and curses which was occasionally punctuated with Cloud's name.

The pinch of guilt Reno felt at having turned one of Cloud's comrades against him lasted a whole two seconds before his mind began brainstorming ways to turn the situation to his advantage. The devious smile on his face widened to the extent that, if anyone had been around to witness it, was liable to get him hauled away in a straitjacket and locked up in a padded cell.

When the girl returned, she was noticeably calmer though her cheeks were still flushed from the extensive hollering. "I've decided that it doesn't matter at all whether that brooding blond bugger has given you those Materia or not. I'm taking them back, even if I have to pry them away from your stiff and bloated corpse."

"Before we resort to violent solutions, allow me to propose a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Yuffie stared at the disheveled Turk with even more heightened distrust. What evil scheme was the dirtbag trying to pull with that pretentious, sophisticated speech? She smelled a rat. And not just any rat, but one that had died of food poisoning, been gnawed on by a dozen rabid dogs and left to rot under the sun for at least three days while serving as a breeding ground for flies. _Eeew..._ Yuffie wrinkled her nose in distaste. Curse her overly vivid imagination and its capacity to conjure up mental images capable of disgusting herself.

Reno mistook her silence as an indication to continue. "I can give you this summon Materia. Not just this one but the others as well."

The avid Materia-hunter could not suppress the shiver of anticipated delight at having such awesome destructive power at her disposal. She would never ever misuse that power of course (and she was quite miffed at Cloud for quoting that as an excuse for keeping them away from her), but there was little harm done in flattening a hill or two for practice, right? Such power... And the Turk was going to hand it all over to her just like that? If there was one thing Yuffie had learnt from her seventeen years of life, it was that if something is too good to be true, it usually is. "So what's the catch?" she asked suspiciously.

"This Bahamut summon Materia can be yours in exchange for some information regarding Cloud. Whad'ya say to—"

"Whoa, hold just a minute!" interjected the Wutaian ninja in an affronted tone. "I don't know what gave you the wrong impression, buster, but Yuffie Kisaragi never sells out her friends!"

Slipping comfortably into the role of devil incarnate, Reno reminded her, "A friend who gave away your stuff without your permission."

"What do you mean by... Oh," Yuffie caught herself in time. "Yeah, you're right about that. Look, although nothing would please me more now than to tar-and-feather Cloud and dunk him in a Mako pool, that still isn't reason enough for me to side with you against him. No offense, but I trust you only as far as I can throw that lecherous tub of lard Don Corneo; which is to say, not very far at all."

"But I'm not asking for your trust," Reno argued.

Yuffie frowned in puzzlement. "Then what do you want?"

Feeling a migraine coming on, Reno started to massage his temples. Dealing with the excitable brunette was a great strain on his patience, and he wasn't a patient man to begin with. "Haven't you been listening to a word I said?" he snapped. "What I want is a little information about Cloud, that's all."

Yuffie gnawed her lower lip in indecision, her conflicting desires clashing. "What type of information are we talking about here?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh, nothing too personal. Just simple stuff like where he lives, what he does with his time, so on and so forth."

The brunette gave him a strange look. "Why do you want to know stuff like that for?"

"You're forgetting that I'm the one asking the questions here," Reno bit out in an attempt to change the subject.

Yuffie tilted her head to one side as she studied him curiously. "You're stalking him, aren't you?"

"That's more than enough questions from you, missy!" Reno bellowed, desperately hoping that his expression didn't resemble guilt nailed to a wall. Damn, he was being a bit too obvious, wasn't he? "Do we have a deal or not?"

"Let me get this straight. You'll give me that Materia in your hand if I just tell you where Cloud lives." At the Turk's affirmative nod, she extended a hand out towards him demandingly. "Then you can hand it over right now. Cloud is living at Seventh Heaven. That's Tifa's bar, in case you're wonder—"

"I know that already!" Reno shot the female ninja an angry glare. Why else had he been poisoning his liver these past few days with excessive amounts of alcohol? The red-haired Shinra employee had been racked with endless thoughts of self-recrimination ever since he had unwittingly driven Cloud straight into the arms of one of his main competitors for the blond's affections.

It had been more bearable when Cloud had been living alone. At least, then, the chances of the blond swordsman succumbing to the charms of that pugilistic tomboy had been minimal. Now that the two of them actually live together, there's no telling how much that bud of a romantic relationship between them would develop. And if Reno had any say in it, he would charge in there and incinerate that little bud with a flamethrower, spray it with toxic levels of weedkiller and salt the earth so that nothing would ever grow again.

"If you know that already, why are you still asking me, you illogical moron!" Yuffie yelled back, arms akimbo and glowering furiously. Hell, the last guy who raised his voice against her ended up with a five-foot pole sticking right up where the sun didn't shine. The Turk was being let off too easily this time.

"I was kinda hoping that you'd know where Cloud would choose to live after he moves out of that bar." Reno's look of disappointment melted away as a thought occurred to him. "But you can always find out, right?"

Yuffie blinked in surprise. "What makes you think he would move out?"

Reno only smiled.

xXxXx

"Remind me again how I got roped into doing this."

"Because we're partners, and this is what partners do— Help each other."

"Reno, I'd take a bullet for you any day. You know I would." Reno's said partner-in-crime released a long, suffering sigh. "But there are limits as to what I'm willing to do for you."

Reno looked up from his task of planting a spy mic in the telephone receiver. "I'm merely asking you to install some surveillance equipment. No biggie. You've done this hundreds of times before, so what's the problem?"

"I don't know..." muttered the taller, tanned man. "This is just..."

"Criminal?" Reno snorted. "Oh, come now, that's practically our job description."

"I was about to say 'creepy', 'psychopathic' and 'perverse'. But yes, it is that too," said Rude as he angled the camera that was installed in the ventilation duct linked to the living room. "Am I the only sane one around here who sees how very wrong this is? What are you trying to do, Reno?"

"Hey, what's so wrong about what we're doing now? And it is NOT perverse! I didn't ask you to install anything in the bathroom, did I?"

"Only because you know I would refuse. As surprising as it might sound, I do have my principles."

"You and your damned principles," grumbled Reno, sounding almost disappointed. "Besides, there's no harm done here. This is an empty apartment. No one lives here."

"Yet," stated Rude flatly.

"So? It's hardly my fault if some tenant decides to move in and have his privacy put at risk, is it?"

"And how do you know the next tenant is going to be a guy?"

The redhead waved a hand about carelessly. "Guy, gal, whatever. Are you done interrogating me yet?"

Rude sighed again. "Do you think I don't know who this next tenant is going to be? Why do you still feel the need to lie through your teeth around me? I thought we're partners."

"Even couples who have been married for years still keep secrets from each other, so I don't see why—"

"Reno, stop avoiding my question or I'll leave you to set up this whole thing on your own." In the sulky silence that followed, Rude repeated, "What are you trying to do?"

The silence stretched further, and just when Rude was about to make good his threat and leave Reno to his own devices, the redhead spoke up. "It's all part of a plan." Rude quietly nodded his head to encourage Reno to continue. "I look at him and it feels like some madman with a meat cleaver is let loose inside my ribcage, ya know. He's so sombre and dull ever since… well, you know what, that he seems to be living but half a life. The worst thing is…" At this point, Reno swallowed. "The worst thing is that he thinks he needs to be miserable; that he needs to atone for some past wrong. That's why I was so certain that he wouldn't stay with that bartender girl for long. That masochist wouldn't allow himself a chance at true happiness. And I was right."

"So, your plan is to… what? Make him happy?"

"Hah, you know what kind of a selfish bastard I am. I'm not interested in his happiness. Only my own." Reno started to squirm, seemingly embarrassed by what he was about to say. "It's just that lately, I begin to realize that his happiness is tied in quite closely with mine. Somehow, I can't be happy, knowing that he's not. What does it all mean, Rude?"

'_It means that you're in love, you buffoon,' _thought Rude exasperatedly. Aloud, he said, "And tapping phone lines and covertly monitoring his every move is the best plan you could come up with to achieve your goal?"

"You have a better idea?" asked Reno in a challenging tone. "I wouldn't have to resort to such drastic measures if I could get within fifty yards of that guy without him threatening to inflict grievous bodily harm on my person."

"Is it any wonder why he does that?" Despite his ingrained loyalty to his fellow Turks, Rude was still strongly sympathetic of Cloud's situation; mainly because he understood, and oft times personally experienced, the full extent his partner's insanity and capacity for mayhem and destruction. "You're going about this whole 'getting closer to him' thing the wrong way! You're making yourself a pest when what you really should be doing is to make yourself useful."

"Huh." Reno made an unimpressed sound. "So says the 40-year-old virgin who never got some."

"Who's 40 years old?" demanded Rude, cheeks heating up to such a degree that he was positive that the entire five litres of blood in his bloodstream had rushed to his face. "And who's a VIRGIN?!" The last part was bellowed out with every ounce of outrage that his bruised masculine pride could muster.

"Face it, Rude. You're in no position to give me advice on this matter."

"Whose advice might you be listening to then?" And because Rude was usually a reserved and quiet guy, he didn't follow it up with a nasty '_That tiny whisper from the deep, dark corner of your soul where the devil had set up residence because it felt so much like home?'_

"Rufus's."

Rude choked. "Rufus? Rufus?! As in, our boss? You're taking advice from Rufus Shinra?"

"Duh."

"What did he… No, I don't even want to know," said Rude, suppressing a shiver. No doubt Rufus would have considered his Machiavellian principle of 'eliminate all obstacles in your path' perfectly applicable in all kinds of situations. "Look, just trust me on this, okay? Once you can convince Strife that your presence is something to be desired, rather than feared, he would come to accept you. It would take a bit of time, but you just have to be patient."

"And how do I achieve such an impossible task?" Reno actually looked as if he was seriously considering it, which caused a surge of triumph to well up inside Rude.

"Just use your imagination… No, wait, wait, forget I said that." Rude pursed his lips as the mental gears in his head started turning. "Let me think for a sec." What Rude had in mind was for Reno to do something _nice_ for a change, and both of them were admittedly lacking in experience when it came to doing nice things.

As his period of silent contemplation stretched longer, Reno quickly voiced his impatience. "I'm growing old here, dude."

Rude resisted the urge to do something immature— such as rolling his partner with the living room carpet like a sushi and kicking him down the stairwell. He cast his eyes around the apartment (No, he was not looking around for a carpet. He was not that immature after all) and an idea came to him when he saw the kitchen. "I know what you can do," Rude murmured.

xXxXx

"You don't have to move out, you know." Tifa tried to keep her voice free from any of the desperation she felt. Cloud was leaving her again. While that in itself did not come as a surprise (with the blond swordsman being the antisocial recluse that he was), she was hoping that she could have had more time with him. "You can stay as long as you want. I really don't mind."

Cloud gave her a small, apologetic smile. A smile which failed to reach his luminescent blue eyes. "I wouldn't want to impose on you. You have a bar to operate, as well as a soup kitchen for the orphans. I would just be a burden to you if I stay."

"All the more reason for you to stay. I could always use an extra pair of hands. With you as a bouncer, most people would think twice before stirring up any trouble in my bar."

"Tifa, I've seen you wiping the floor with muscle-bound thugs twice your size. You don't need bouncers. You need standby paramedics."

"It's mainly about deterrence, Cloud. People look at you and wouldn't even dream of starting trouble; whereas I had to actually show physical evidence that starting trouble is bad for their health."

"If you find that you really need someone to fill in as a bouncer, I would do what I can to help out. Just let me know the nights when things could potentially get out of control." Cloud did not pause in his movements of packing his belongings. It was evident that he was still intent on leaving.

"Uh, yes. Of course." Tifa bit her lower lip in concealed distress. There was nothing for it except laying her heart out in the open for Cloud to steamroll over as he wished. "Please stay." She knew she shouldn't push Cloud; especially not in such matters. She knew she was setting herself up for some major hurt and disappointment. She knew, but she didn't care. "I would like you to stay." _With me._ The last two words remained unspoken, probably because the self-preservation instincts of her heart had decided to kick in. She didn't think she could ever recover emotionally if Cloud had turned down such a blatant request.

"You're making it sound as if I'm going somewhere far away. Don't worry. I'll still be around. My new apartment isn't very far from here." The hurried manner in which Cloud started rambling was a sure sign that the blond was trying his damnedest to change the subject and defuse the tense moment. "It's quite a nice apartment, despite its small size. Single bedroom. A reasonably-sized kitchenette…" It was obvious to Tifa that Cloud was trying to turn her down without hurting her feelings. Strangely enough, Tifa found herself feeling content over that small degree of consideration displayed by Cloud. It showed that he still cared for her, at least. Whether as a sister, a friend, or something more, only time would tell. And she would wait until he found his answer, no matter how long it took. She was a patient woman.

Cloud had pushed open the windows and was pointing towards a block of flats in the distance. "In fact, if you look straight out here, you can see…"

When Cloud suddenly trailed off into dead silence, Tifa shook out of her reverie and hastily looked at what had caused the blond to freeze. She blinked, squinted and rubbed her eyes. No, she was not imagining it. "Um, Cloud. Is that smoke I see coming out of…?"

"Reno." Cloud snarled out the name like a curse.

"Reno?" Tifa was baffled, to say the least. That was totally out of left field. "What does Reno have to do with…?"

"Excuse me, Tifa, but I have some urgent business to attend to."

Cloud was out the door in a flash and the sounds of Fenrir tearing down the streets soon followed. Tifa returned her gaze back to the window. The orange flames had spread to the upper levels. She sincerely hoped that there were sufficient fire escape routes in that place and that no one was seriously injured.

"Reno?" she asked again in wonder.

xXxXx

In retrospect, perhaps leaving the pan of oil heating up on the stove unattended wasn't a very smart move. How was he to know that cooking oil could actually burn and shoot flames up to the ceiling like a freaking geyser? So, maybe trying to put the fire out with water was another not-so-smart move. Oil floats on water— It's basic physics. Damn, why didn't they teach him that in his 'Bombs and Explosives' course?

And was it his fault that the entire building didn't have smoke sensors or even a sprinkler system? Even the fire extinguishers in the corridors were malfunctioning and way past their expiry dates. The place was a frigging death trap!

Yes, he was doing everyone a favour by exposing how inadequately equipped that apartment was. His timing was perfect too, seeing how the fire occurred at a time when most of the tenants were out working. They should give him a medal instead, for his heroic actions.

Having reached that conclusion, Reno was able to confront his work partner's dark, disapproving scowl with a stronger sense of self-righteousness. "I could have died. I should sue the pants off the manager of that building."

Rude's left eyebrow twitched. "Is that all you've got to say for yourself?"

"Well, if you insist." Reno folded his arms across his chest. "I would also like to add that none of this would have happened if it weren't for your crappy advice. Thanks to you, all that surveillance equipment which I've painstakingly installed had been reduced to a pile of ashes."

Rude felt an artery in his head throb so feverishly that it was a miracle that it didn't burst and give him a haemorrhagic stroke then and there. "My advice?! My suggestion to you was to prepare a home-cooked meal, organize a housewarming party, or anything along those lines! Anything that could prove to Strife that you could be something other than a major pain in the ass! Did you hear me mention arson at any point? Did you?"

"It wasn't arson and you know it." Reno sniffed, his head held high. "You should've taken into account my inept culinary skills. Home-cooked meal indeed! If that isn't the worst possible advice on the face of the planet, I don't know what is."

It took a lot of willpower on Rude's part to refrain from lunging at the redhead currently resting on the hospital bed. Rude calmed himself down with the thought that Reno had received his fair share of punishment already, what with the near-suffocation, third degree burns in some really sensitive regions and a singed ponytail. He was a fool for feeling any sort of sympathy for his moron of a partner earlier.

Perhaps sensing his state of aggravation, Reno decided to stop provoking him. "Hey, man, you do know that I'm grateful for your help, ya? Crappy advice aside, you did save my neck back there. I didn't think I could've escaped from that burning building alive without you."

Rude carefully kept his face expressionless; which wasn't too difficult, seeing how his ray bands kept his eyes hidden from view. "Uh, well, about that…" He was interrupted by a jingle that signaled an incoming call on his cell phone.

"Aren't you supposed to switch that thing off in the hospital?" asked Reno. "Doesn't it interfere with the operation of delicate life-support machines and stuff?"

Rude ignored him and answered the phone. "Rude here." As he listened to the person at the other end of the line, his eyes suddenly bulged. He snapped the phone shut and gesticulated wildly at Reno. "He's here!"

To Reno's credit, he didn't waste time questioning his partner and immediately took action. I.V. drips were yanked off, bed covers were flung aside and in the blink of an eye, the red-haired Turk had ducked under the bed. Approaching heavy footsteps could soon be heard and the door to his room banged open. Yup, his unexpected visitor was definitely hostile.

"Hello." An awkward pause. Then, as if for Reno's benefit (as he couldn't see anything from his vantage point from under the bed), Rude added, "A surprise to see you here, Strife."

_Cloud?_ Whew, for a second there, Reno thought it was Rufus after his hide. Then he thought a bit more and realized that what Cloud had in mind for him most probably wouldn't have been much different from Rufus's. His survival instincts overpowered his strange, suicidal urge to jump out and flash the blond one of his rueful, and hopefully winning, grins. Maybe it would be wiser to see what was the purpose of Cloud's visit before making his presence known.

"So, the idiot still lives." Cloud's voice was deadpan.

"It would take more than the fires of hell and a collapsing building to kill him." There was a mirthless chuckle from Rude. "Unfortunately."

'_Damn you, Rude, you're supposed to be on my side!'_ Reno fumed in silence.

After another awkward pause, Cloud asked, "Where is he?"

"He has gone out for a smoke. Don't have a clue where he could be at the moment. But where ever he is, there would be too many witnesses around for you to do what you're no doubt itching to do to him."

"Ah." Was that disappointment he heard in Cloud's voice? Reno wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not. "If you're concerned about his safety, you would make sure that he doesn't stray across my path again. Innocent people could have been killed, Rude. You're his partner. Can't you keep him in check a little?"

"I don't perform miracles, Strife."

Cloud made another noise of frustration before turning on his heel and making his way back to the door. "Just pass on my warning to him. If he doesn't want to get hurt, he would do well to stay away from me. And trust me, he would be in a world of hurt if I ever see him again."

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't have—" Rude cut off in mid-sentence.

"What?"

"Nothing." Rude let out a sigh that Reno could easily identify as the one that usually accompanied thoughts like '_Why me?'_ and '_I'm way too old for this shit.'_ Reno never thought that he would ever hear Rude sighing like that while dealing with someone other than himself. "You're a very confusing man, Strife. Your words and your actions contradict each other."

Reno perked his ears up in an effort to make out what Cloud's response might be, but the blond remained silent. The door shut, signaling his departure.

After the sounds of thudding footsteps outside his room faded away completely, Reno crawled out of his hiding spot. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he fixed Rude with a thoughtful gaze. "What did you mean by that last sentence?"

"It's nothing that you need to concern yourself with," Rude stated, his stony face revealing nothing.

"You're hiding something from me," Reno accused.

"Damn it, Reno, just drop it already. I'm in no mood to—" The annoying ring tone of Rude's cell phone interrupted him once again. Rude was in a noticeably fouler mood this time when he answered the phone, flipping it open and barking harshly, "What now?!" After listening for a while, Rude snapped, "Loud, violent girl with bandanna creating havoc in the lobby? So deal with it! Why are you calling me about such trivial—"

However, before Rude had a chance to tongue-lash the unlucky Shinra guard on the other end of the line, Reno had snatched the cell phone from his grasp. "This is Reno. Tell Miss Kisaragi that I have another business proposition for her that she would be interested in. I'll contact her to arrange a meeting sometime. Or you can give her my contact number. Yes, I don't mind. Yes. Good."

Rude was eyeing him warily when Reno handed the phone back to him. "What are you up to this time, Reno? Do I even want to know?"

"It's nothing that you need to concern yourself with," Reno retorted, feeling a sense of childish satisfaction when Rude flushed, cussed and muttered something about needing a cigarette before storming out of the room.

In the silence of the empty room, Reno mulled over his next course of action. After the disasters that were Plan C and D, it was fortunate that he still had the highly bribable ninja girl to help him out with Plan E.

xXxXx

In the meantime, Cloud felt a sudden chill and sneezed.

_(To be continued)_


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** Reno will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Cloud finds this out the hard way. A prequel of sorts to 'Snapshots.'

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII characters belong to SquareSoft, now known as SquareEnix… I think. Whatever the case, I don't own them.

**Tactics**

**A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by ntc**

_Mission objective: Cohabitation with Cloud_

Reno hadn't bathed in five days.

While this fact had nothing to do with the reason why there were currently five insensate ruffians sprawled out on the floor around him, it was, however, the reason why he was picked on in the first place. Reno hadn't bothered to change out of his Turk uniform and there were still resentful people who viewed the Shinra Corporation and anyone linked to it as scapegoats to be blamed for Midgar's destruction.

Sitting on the barstool next to the redhead was Rude, who knew better than to interfere when his partner was in one of his dark moods. Who was he to stop the inevitable if Reno needed to vent his frustration and those idiots had so kindly volunteered? They had misinterpreted Reno's state of self-neglect and obvious drunkenness as signs of weakness that marked him as an easy target. What they didn't know was that Reno was most dangerous when he was drunk. If Reno didn't care enough to attend to things such as self-care and personal hygiene, he damned sure wouldn't care about holding back when it came to a fight.

One of men on the floor was still twitching from the aftershocks of Reno's electromag rod.

"Barkeep!" Reno's words were only slightly slurred; which was a feat in itself given how many drinks he had consumed. "Gimme another glass of… um… whatever you have that's at least 40 alcohol!"

It took a few minutes for the man cowering behind the bar to muster sufficient courage to stand up and attend to the order. The bartender's hands were trembling so much that most of the vodka he was pouring missed the glass entirely and splashed messily onto the counter. Reno, in a grand gesture of magnanimity, decided to extract the bottle of vodka from the other man's nerveless fingers before it was dropped in sheer terror. Tilting his head back, he swallowed several gulps straight from the bottle. It burned all the way down.

Rude shook his head. "You're going to kill yourself if you continue at this rate."

"That's just great, ain't it?" Reno hiccupped and stretched his lips in a dreamy smile. "When I'm dead, I won't have to feel anything…" He scowled when Rude snatched the bottle from his grasp and pushed a glass of iced, clear liquid in his direction.

"Drink it. You'll thank me in the morning."

After taking a tentative sip, Reno immediately spat it out as if he had tasted something foul. "Ugh! It's water!"

"And that's just what your dehydrated body needs, Reno. That, and a proper meal." Gods, he was beginning to sound like his own mother. Rude tried very hard not to think about how his caring behaviour was ripping his masculine image to shreds. Damn Reno and his inability to take better care of himself. "What has gotten into you anyway? You don't eat. You hardly sleep… Well, unless you count those times when you've passed out after getting too drunk… You stink like last week's laundry. You don't pay attention at work. You're a complete mess!"

Reno did not answer him immediately, preferring instead to amuse himself by drawing random swirls with the puddles of spilt liquor on the counter top. Rude promptly removed his source of amusement by grabbing a nearby tea towel and wiping the counter top dry. This earned him another scowl from Reno but at least the redhead decided to give up and tell him what was bothering him.

"He's staying with that woman again," mumbled Reno abjectly.

Rude prided himself in being the only person on the planet who could possibly understand Reno's laconic reply. "You do know that it's entirely your fault, don't you?"

Reno tried to put on an indignant look but only ended up looking more wretched than anything else. ''What does she have that I don't?''

Rude raised an eyebrow at the tone of challenge in Reno's voice. "Aside from a kind, caring personality and a gentle smile that could light up a room?" Rude began holding up fingers as he went down his mental list. "Aside from beauty, boobs and the ability to make babies? Aside from cooking skills that wouldn't raze a multi-storied flat to the ground? Aside from...''

''Okay, O-KAY! I get it!" yelled Reno, pressing his hands to his ears. "Jeez, would it kill ya to be a little more supportive?"

Rude shrugged. "You asked, I answered."

Narrowing his mildly glazed eyes, Reno pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You have a crush on her, don't you? Traitor."

Rude fought down the guilty blush that threatened to creep into his cheeks. "You're one to talk. You're the one who's moping around like a lovesick fool because some AVALANCHE rebel would sooner disembowel you than look at you. When are you going to open your eyes and see that Strife doesn't want anything to do with you? Give it up already, Reno, while the two of you are still sane and alive."

"You're just as bad as Rufus." Reno slammed a fist on the counter; his eyes alight with stubborn determination. "I swear, the next person who warns me to back off from Cloud is gonna…"

A young voice rang out. "You with the red hair! You're Reno the Turk, aren't you?"

Whirling around to confront the next victim of his electromag rod, Reno snarled, "Who wants to know?" He blinked when he discovered that the owner of that voice was a curly-haired boy who couldn't be older than fourteen. Standing behind the boy was at least ten other kids of roughly the same size and age, all of them puffing up their chests in a puny attempt to look more intimidating.

Though the boy visibly blanched at Reno's murderous expression, he did not turn tail and run away, as any sane adult would do in his position. It was probably the false sense of security granted by greater numbers that enabled the boy to ignore the danger signs and plod on. "I, er, we're here to warn you to stay away from Cloud, you big jerk! 'Cause if you don't, you'll be sorry!"

Rude inwardly groaned when he saw the gleeful, manic glint in Reno's eyes. He turned his head away from the mayhem which would soon unfold and quietly sipped his scotch.

xXxXx

_Half an hour later in an abandoned, dilapidated Shinra power plant…_

"'IF YOU EVER WANT TO SEE…'" Reno read aloud as he scribbled on a piece of paper. He paused, frowned thoughtfully and nudged the bound kid on the floor with his foot. "Yo, twerp, what's your name?"

"You think I'll tell you?!" roared the incensed boy as he struggled futilely with his bonds. "Untie me, you asshole!"

Reno knelt down and rapped the top of the boy's skull with his knuckles none too gently. His actions were rewarded with a pained yelp and another string of threats and profanities. "I'll ask you nicely again. Your name?"

"Give me liberty or give me death, you creep!"

Rap. Rap.

"You bastard spawn of a flea-bitten Bahamut! If I ever get out of these ropes—!"

Rap. Rap. Rap.

"Your mother is a— Ow!"

Reno had given up on the use of his knuckles and had started using his baton instead. The corners of the boy's eyes glistened with impending tears.

Rude covered his eyes with his hand, as if he could not bear to witness the scene any longer. "Reno, I've never been more ashamed of you right now."

"If you're not planning to help me, the least you can do is not to judge me." Reno huffed as he began readjusting the power setting on his electromag rod. "Now, what would you estimate to be a safe voltage for a runt this size?"

"Gimme that before you hurt the poor kid, you big bully." Rude snatched the weapon from Reno's hands and pushed him aside roughly. "This will be the last time I help you out. After this, you're on your own, pal." He cast an apologetic glance at the boy currently glaring daggers at him. "Sorry that you have to get caught up in this mess, kid. I'll try to make this as quick and painless as I can." Securing a firm grip on the boy's kicking legs with one arm, Rude set about tugging the shoes and socks off with the other.

The boy's eyes widened with an increasing sense of dread as it slowly dawned on him what was about to happen. He thrashed even more desperately.

Under Rude's merciless tickle torture, the boy broke out in helpless chortles and guffaws, followed by breathless groans from the resultant stitch in his sides, which finally culminated in a weak, but no less enraged, cry of surrender.

"So, that's D-E-N… Spelt with an 'E', am I right?" enquired Reno as he continued to pen his ransom note.

If Denzel's arms hadn't been tied to his sides, he would have given the red-haired Turk the mid-finger salute. As such, he could only spit out a nasty suggestion for Reno to do the anatomically impossible before returning to licking the wounds on his injured pride in silence.

xXxXx

"A delivery service?"

"Yes." Tifa nodded her head eagerly. "And you could use the Seventh Heaven as a base for your operations. I've thought this through. Since I would be in the bar most of the time, I could always help answer the phone and note down any job requests for you. As for advertisement, we could put up flyers on the bulletin board in the bar or distribute them in the market place."

"I'm not sure about this…" Cloud began, but Tifa cut in before he could voice his doubts.

"You have a motorcycle that's ideal for the job, Cloud. Also, you've traveled enough to know your way around most of the major towns and cities on the continent. If you're concerned about being a burden for staying here, then don't be. With the income that comes from both our jobs, we could realistically look into establishing that orphanage that we've often talked about."

"This job would require me to travel a lot, wouldn't it?"

Tifa's emotions were conflicted when she saw Cloud's agreeable expression. On one hand, she was glad that Cloud was seriously considering her suggestion; on the other, she knew that his decision would mean long periods of separation from her. For Cloud to view being away from her as an argument _for_, instead of against, taking up the job… Tifa didn't know what to feel about that. Was she being too clingy? Was she somehow pushing him away without even realizing it? '_Oh, screw this,'_ she thought irritably, shaking off her paranoid and over-analytical self. She would be content with what she could get. At least, this way, Cloud would have to visit the Seventh Heaven fairly frequently. Whether she could get a lock on the blond's affections during those brief visits and stays would be a subject for contemplation for another day.

"I… I think I would like that," said Cloud softly. "Traveling, I mean."

"I thought you would," said the brunette with forced cheer as she ignored the twinge somewhere in the vicinity of her chest. She mentally ticked off several items on her list. There: accommodation, money, social service, a job that allows much freedom and flexibility… Was there any bait she'd left off her hook? Oh yes, the orphans. "What's more, the children would be delighted that you would be staying here. You know how fond they are of their resident, local hero."

"A fondness which, I believe, you're mostly responsible for," Cloud accused her. "I avoid them most of the time and yet they still flock to me like starving chocobos to gyshal greens. I bet you're the culprit who had been regaling them with tales of our life-and-death battles and my final showdown with Sephiroth. Some of those tales have been blown so out of proportion that I'm amazed that the kids actually believe them. What ever happened to the healthy cynicism that came from living on the streets?"

"Those kids flock to you because of your natural charisma, Cloud." Tifa chuckled at the look of disbelief on Cloud's face. "Don't look so skeptical; I'm telling you the truth. The children adore you and no, it's not because they've become enamoured of the legend like what has happened with Sephiroth in the past. They've gotten to know you as a person, and they like what they see in you."

"Only because they haven't looked deep enough…" muttered Cloud, looking uncomfortable with their topic of discussion.

Tifa wanted to believe that it was merely shyness that made Cloud shun those who would reach out to him, either in friendship or some other form of human bond. However, the more she got to know him, the more she came to realize that it was not so much shyness as fear, shame and self-loathing that drove the blond to a life of solitude. All her efforts to break through that shell of self-loathing, to convince Cloud that he was a better person than what he thought himself to be, had met with only failure. Even as she wanted to howl in frustration and shake the blond until his teeth rattled for being so damned complicated and difficult, she also knew that doing so would only make matters worse. _How do you save someone who doesn't want to be saved?_

"Er… Tifa, are you alright?"

Tifa blinked as she slowly regained awareness of her surroundings. "Eh? What?"

"Uh, you sort of zoned out for a while there." Cloud was looking at her with a hint of concern on his face. "I called your name earlier but you didn't respond."

Tifa tried not to blush in embarrassment. She really should keep a time limit on her ruminations and internal monologues. That, or learn how to multi-task. "Sorry. I'm just a bit tired, that's all. Didn't sleep very well last night."

Cloud seemed to accept her explanation and, thankfully, didn't question her further. During the lapse in their conversation, Tifa remembered that Cloud still hasn't told her his decision yet. "So, er, Cloud…?"

"Yes?"

When Tifa discovered that she was fidgeting nervously, she willed her body to remain still. '_Jeez, get a grip on yourself, woman!'_ Tifa mentally berated herself. '_It's not as if you're making a love confession to him for goodness' sake! And you're not stupid enough to make a love confession, because that would have him riding his motorbike at full throttle and halfway to Gongaga before nightfall. Great, now you've gone and made yourself all depressed… Happy now?'_ Tifa hurriedly proceeded to ask her question lest Cloud start looking at her strangely again. "What have you decided about…?"

The shrill cries of several frantic children interrupted her. "Cloud! Cloud! Tifa!"

Tifa was normally a gentle and peace-loving person. She really was. That was why it took her by surprise when she found herself developing the strongest urge to smash something, or someone, when a horde of annoying miscreants— the same group that she had dubbed 'her little angels' on a good day— surrounded them and began talking simultaneously and incoherently.

"Cloud, you've got to—!"

"We just wanted to talk! But that monster—!"

"It was all Denzel's idea! And now he's—!"

"We couldn't stop that bastard, Cloud! We tried but—!"

"Waaaahh! Denzel is going to die!"

"SILENCE!"

The terrified children stopped speaking abruptly at the bellowed command. Tifa realized that she was the one who had done the bellowing when everyone around her, Cloud included, was gaping at her in shock. She coughed daintily into a closed fist before continuing as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, "Now, speak up one at a time. Otherwise, Cloud and I would have trouble understanding what you're trying to tell us."

One boy timidly stepped out from the crowd and handed over a folded piece of paper to Cloud. "He told us to give you this."

One of Cloud's eyebrows started twitching violently even before he read what was on the paper.

xXxXx

After the stitch had left his sides, Denzel resumed his verbal attack on his red-haired kidnapper. Nothing was sacred as the curly-haired boy made rude, derogatory comments about everything from the species of the Turk's ancestors to the overpowering nature of his body odour.

Reno pulled his lips away from his teeth, revealing a most sinister-looking sneer. "Don't make me gag you, brat. And just so you know, the closest thing I have to a gag is my sock which, by the way, hasn't seen the inside of a washing machine since the beginning of last month."

Denzel quietened down immediately. Exhausted from yelling almost continuously for the past hour, the boy flopped onto the floor and laid still. However, stubborn, defiant fury still burned in his eyes.

Five minutes passed in relative silence. Just when Reno thought he could get some peace at last, the boy had to spoil everything by opening his mouth again.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Denzel demanded angrily.

Reno's expression swung between irritation and confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your repeated evil plans to force Cloud out of town!" The boy bristled when Reno only looked more confused. "What has he ever done to you? Why do you hate him so?"

"What ever gave you the idea that I'm trying to run him out of town?" Reno growled in an affronted tone. He wouldn't have bothered defending himself if the kid hadn't been so misguided in his assumptions.

"Don't you dare act all innocent, you crook! You evicted him out of his first home; you burnt down his second one; you robbed him blind… And now, you're using me as a pawn in your diabolical scheme to force him to leave!" The boy sniffled once and, for a second, looked as if he was about to cry. However, all traces of vulnerability vanished as the boy's hardened gaze fell on him once more. "I hate you!"

"Look, you've got it all wrong!" Reno couldn't figure out how such a misunderstanding could come about. Wasn't it painfully obvious that all that he had done were thoughtful, sincere attempts to make the blond more receptive to the idea of cohabitation (1)? Seriously, why is everyone always jumping to the worst conclusions about him?

"I'm wrong?! About what? The part where you hate him or the part where you're trying to banish him from Kalm?"

"Both!" Reno snapped, his temper flaring. In the height of his frustration, his mouth started to run off with him while blatantly ignoring any attempts at censorship by his brain. "I don't hate Cloud! I couldn't, even if I wanted to! Hell, things would've been so much easier if I could just hate that emo bastard! And I never wanted him to leave! Ever! If he dares to leave, I'll personally chase him to the ends of the earth and drag him back kicking and screaming all the way!"

The silence that descended after the last echoes of the Turk's yells died down could only be described as 'bloody awkward'. Despite the fact that Reno was so thick-skinned that he was practically covered in calluses, his cheeks still couldn't help taking on a colour that matched his hair.

"Okay… that was really weird…" Denzel murmured with a gob-smacked expression on his face. "Are you trying to tell me that you… um… actually _like_ Cloud?"

Reno was still too mortified to speak. Stupid brain! Wasn't it supposed to prevent embarrassing situations like this from happening in the first place?

The annoying kid still didn't know when to stop with his questions. "You… uh… like him? As in a 'let's be friends' kind of way?"

"No, I like him in a 'let's fornicate like rabbits' kind of way!" It was meant to shut the kid up, but from the way the kid started to turn pasty and even slightly green around the edges, Reno realized that he hadn't sounded as sarcastic as he thought. _Maybe it's because there is some truth in that admission… Argh! Now's not the time to think about Freudian slips!_ "I'm kidding! Just kidding, alright?! Stop looking as if you're about to throw up on me!"

Unfortunately, Reno's belated denials failed to reach the boy's ears. He was too busy condemning the Turk. "Y-you sicko! Stay away from Cloud, you hear me! I'm making it my mission in life to keep Cloud away from your perverted clutches!"

Reno had had enough. He dragged the protesting boy across the floor like a sack of potatoes, dumped him in one of the sentry boxes near the Mako reactors and shut the door behind him to muffle the noise.

It was just as well that he did so. The last thing he needed during his meeting with Cloud later on was a distracting, screaming brat with the lung capacity of an opera singer.

xXxXx

"Sir, you've got to stop him before things get out of hand!" pleaded Rude on the phone. The tall Turk normally wouldn't go behind Reno's back to appeal to their boss for help, but the situation was desperate enough to call for measures just as desperate. He would do whatever he could to keep his insane partner alive, even if it meant squealing on said partner to the most dangerous man on the planet. "What he's doing now has the word 'disaster' written all over it! You're the only person whom he might possibly listen to right now."

"I'm flattered that you hold such confidence in my skills of persuasion," stated Rufus, his voice flavoured with honeyed venom. "But Reno has made his bed. Now he has to sleep in it."

"You're not even going to do anything?" Rude exclaimed. Noticing that his tone sounded perilously close to disrespectful, he quickly added, "Sir?"

"Oh, but I am doing something about it," Rufus reassured him.

"So you'll talk to him, sir? That's great!" Rude heaved a sigh of relief. "I'll just head inside the power plant now and…"

"I'm leaving the task of stopping him in your capable hands." Rude could hear the smirk in Rufus's voice.

"…What?"

"And I'm holding you personally responsible for any catastrophic outcomes that directly, or indirectly, result from his actions. Don't fail me, Rude." The line went dead.

Rude was so dazed by the turn of events that he held the cell phone to his ear for a good two minutes before he regained enough presence of mind to hang up on his end.

He really, really wanted to kick himself at that moment.

Or bash his head against the wall. Repeatedly.

However, before he could give in to his self-harm urges, he caught sight of the figures walking down the path leading to the entrance of the power plant. He ducked behind a rusted oil barrel just in time to escape detection.

Reno was in deeper shit than he thought.

Rude originally wanted to help Reno, but what he saw made him change his mind. '_I'm afraid you're on your own this time, partner.'_

After all, one of them had to be conscious enough to call the ambulance at the end.

xXxXx

"Denzel? Are you in there?" came a familiar voice through the wooden door.

"C-Cloud?" Denzel croaked (the result of too much yelling beforehand). "Cloud!" he called out again as the hope of rescue filled him.

"I'm going to kick the door open, so back away from the door as far as you can, okay?"

It took two tries for Cloud to splinter the wood around the locking device and force the door open. The blond immediately approached him and started on the task of untying him. While Cloud was busy loosening the knots, Denzel whispered, shamefaced, "I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble, Cloud. I never thought things would turn out this way."

"Denzel, you went and threatened a _Turk_. What did you think was going to happen?" There was mild exasperation, as well as some degree of amusement, in Cloud's reprimand.

"I dunno… I thought that jerk would just heed my warning and learn not to bother you ever again."

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Denzel." Cloud softened the blow of his words with a small smile. "Next time, just let me handle that jerk on my own."

_But…!_ Denzel wasn't sure whether he should let Cloud know just how depraved the Turk truly was. "Did you see him on your way here?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, I've left that honour to Tifa."

Denzel pouted. _So, you wouldn't let me fight your battles but you would let a woman do it for you._ Denzel knew that he was being irrational; but damn it, he was a kid. He was allowed to be irrational.

Cloud correctly guessed what he was thinking. "I'm letting Tifa get involved because I wasn't allowed to inflict any form of injury on his person. It was one of the conditions stated in your ransom note." Cloud's smile turned slightly vicious. "He forgot to mention that I wasn't allowed to bring someone else along with me."

As they walked out of the sentry box, Denzel noticed a faint, smacking sound in the background, like that of flesh hitting flesh. "Um, Cloud, what is that noise?"

"That's the sound of Tifa's fist getting closely acquainted with Reno's face," observed Cloud in a disinterested tone. Then the air was filled with a tortured sound similar to that of a cat getting shampooed— a shrill howl of torment and outrage. Of shame and defeat. Cloud winced in what could almost be sympathy if he didn't believe that Reno thoroughly deserved what he was getting.

"Okay... Tifa must've aimed somewhere much lower to cause that one."

Denzel winced with him. "Remind me to never ever get on Tifa's bad side."

"Ditto."

_(To be continued)_

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(1) Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is now official that Reno is psychotic; in that he suffers from delusions. This is one of them.

**A/N:** Heh, I hope I haven't totally butchered Tifa's character in this chapter. And, no, I don't make it a habit to write about child abuse in my fics (shifty eyes). Let me know what you think of the story so far. Reviews are much appreciated. Till next time then.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary:** Reno will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Cloud finds this out the hard way. A prequel of sorts to 'Snapshots.'

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII characters belong to SquareSoft, now known as SquareEnix… I think. Whatever the case, I don't own them.

**Tactics**

**A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by ntc**

_Mission objective: Cohabitation with Cloud_

"Get out of here, you treacherous, backstabbing, scum-sucking, charcoal-hearted, lily-livered deserter! And take your bag of cheap apples with you."

Rude was impervious to the glare of doom that was directed at him from the redhead currently lying in a miserable, crumpled heap on the bed. The bald Turk wordlessly drew a chair closer to the bedside and proceeded to peel one of the said cheap apples with his boot knife. "A good morning to you too. What are you so upset about?"

"You weak-willed sorry excuse for a Turk! Where were you when— ow ow ow ow!" Reno whimpered in pain when his attempts at screaming at his traitor of a partner only aggravated the wounds on his swollen, split lips.

"Sharing your fate would have served no purpose." Rude began placing slices of peeled apple on a ceramic plate on the bedside table. "Besides, you wouldn't be able to receive such prompt medical attention if it weren't for me." He pushed the plate towards Reno. "Eat up. This is supposed to be good for your health. It's guilty of having those things called vitamins and fibre."

Reno ignored the peace offering. "I wouldn't _need_ prompt medical attention if you had demonstrated _some_ loyalty to your own partner instead of letting yourself be swayed so easily by a pair of boobs!"

Rude gave him an unrepentant smirk. "You're just jealous coz you don't have any."

Before Reno could pick up the plate of apple slices and hurl it at him, Rude deftly snatched it out of his partner's reach. Deprived of his projectile weapon, Reno resorted to glaring at him once again.

Rude sighed and ran a hand over his shaved head. "What this latest fiasco has clearly shown us is that Strife hates your guts and is not above using his deadly allies to keep you at bay. Why can't you just accept that you've lost and give up?"

Reno flashed him a confident and, at the same time, highly unnerving smile. The last time Rude saw Reno smile like that, the redhead was about to string some poor, hapless sucker up by the thumbs above a roasting fire. "What makes you think I've lost?"

As Rude gazed into the wild light blazing in the redhead's eyes, he found himself pitying a certain blond who wouldn't know what hit him until it was too late. "What have you done, Reno?" Rude's tone was apprehensive. He still hadn't forgotten Rufus's decision to make him completely liable for every blunder or insane crime committed by his partner.

"Heh, do you think I wouldn't have a contingency plan in place?" Reno crowed triumphantly. "My kidnapping attempt was all a ploy to draw Cloud out of that house, and he predictably fell for it."

Rude let out a skeptical snort. "I suppose getting kicked in the balls was part of the plan as well?"

Reno's fierce scowl didn't quite succeed in concealing his flinch at the painful memory. "Curse that blasted, busty man-woman to an eternity of spinsterhood! If I find out one day that I'm shooting blanks, there will be some serious reckoning to pay," Reno swore fervently. "So maybe I wasn't expecting her to accompany him; but that only worked out in my favour in the end."

Rude pondered over his partner's words. "You wanted them to leave their residence and come after you, which means…" There was too little time to set up comprehensive spying equipment, but more than enough time for… larceny. His thoughtful gaze took in Reno's exaggerated look of innocence. "You were after something inside Seventh Heaven, weren't you?"

The smug grin on Reno's face was an answer all by itself.

"What were you after?"

'Shall we find out?' was Reno's cryptic reply before he whipped out his cell phone and punched in a number. Rude's raised his eyebrows in surprise when he found out the identity of his partner's accomplice.

"Yo, Ninja-girl. I presume the mission was a success?"

xXxXx

_It's… gone?_

_It's gone._

_IT'S GONE!!!_

With the mantra of 'don't panic don't panic don't panic' replaying in his mind like a broken record, Cloud began his frantic search for his most treasured possession. Perhaps he had hidden it so well that he couldn't even remember where he hid it? He systematically turned everything in his room inside out. Mattresses were lifted and flung aside; beds and tables were overturned; cupboard doors were close to getting ripped off at the hinges; clothing, pillows and blankets were scattered all over the room. Cloud was even half-tempted to use his sword and start hacking _into_ the mattresses and pillows. Thankfully, he was held back by a saner, calmer voice of reason inside him which pointed out that there was no possible way that he could have hidden the box in those places without remembering having done so. Besides, he was never any good with needle and thread.

Tifa was understandably bewildered and upset when she stepped into the disaster area that had once been her guest room. "Cloud?" She didn't even need to voice out her question of 'What in the name of all that is holy are you doing?' It was already evident from her mildly reproachful tone.

Cloud threw her an apologetic glance. "Sorry, er, for the mess. I was… looking for something." At that moment, Cloud arrived at the logical conclusion that if what he sought was no longer _in_ his room, it must mean that someone else had taken it _out_ of his room. "Have you by any chance seen a metal box around? Four by six inches in size. Grey in colour."

"No…"

"Then have you seen anyone enter my room recently?" His frazzled state of mind made it difficult for him to keep his voice calm. "Denzel? The other kids? Have you seen them touch any of my belongings?"

"No, and no." Tifa was watching him closely, and Cloud knew that he was not fooling her one bit with his mask of placidity. "What's wrong, Cloud? What have you lost that is so…?"

"Nothing important," Cloud interrupted quickly, not wanting to delve into the subject with her. Not when he knew that Tifa would only get her feelings hurt if she found out.

Tifa gave him an incredulous look. "You're telling me that you're freaking out over 'nothing important'?"

Cloud racked his brains for a plausible lie. "It's just some stuff my mom had sent me when I was younger— lucky charms, old letters, that sort of thing. They have senti… what d'you call it… " Damn it, he couldn't lie even if his life depended on it. He just hoped that Tifa wouldn't (correctly) deduce that his obviously flustered state was the result of guilt.

"Sentimental value?"

"Yes! That's the word I'm looking for." Cloud's voice was slightly too loud and his smile slightly too forced to be convincing. "I apologize if I've come across as a complete nutcase just now. You know me, Tifa. I tend to overreact sometimes."

"Cloud, in all the time I've known you, you've been under-reacting to things. Never overreacting."

This was one of those rare instances when Cloud wanted to curse his childhood friend for knowing him too well. He was relieved when the phone rang and he immediately jumped at the chance to break up their conversation. "I'll answer that."

He carefully avoided Tifa's eyes as he walked out of the room to pick up the handset. His relief, however, dissipated when he heard the voice of the caller.

"Hiya, Cloud," came the lazy, familiar drawl through the receiver. "Missing something?"

Utter dread hit Cloud like a punch in the gut. "What do you want, Reno?" rasped Cloud through a suddenly dry throat, the tone of defeat in his voice.

If it was possible for smirks to be transmitted through telephone lines, Cloud was positive that he would have been blasted with a massive one at that moment. "Whatcha doing this Friday night?"

xXxXx

After one whole hour of watching Reno patting himself on the back and doing his shameless victory dance, Rude decided that it was time to leave. In a final, desperate attempt to instill some sense of self-preservation into his reckless partner, Rude had dropped numerous warnings and drawn out numerous scenarios of how the volatile situation could blow up in their faces, but Reno had only laughed at his fears.

After a very frustrated Rude left his apartment, Reno took some quiet time to fully savour his victory. He may have lost the battle last time, but he sure as hell had won the war. The moment Cloud had caved in to his demands, Reno knew that he had the blond by the metaphorical balls. '_Leverage is such a wondrous thing,'_ thought Reno with great satisfaction as his eyes settled on the object that the Wutaian girl had delivered to him. It had cost him all of Cloud's Materia and quite a few of his own (that avaricious ninja was a master at applying leverage to her maximum advantage), but Reno had no regrets.

Curiosity gnawed at him like a thousand cats as he studied the unimpressive-looking box on his table. His hands twitched with the immense effort it took not to break the tiny lock on the box and bring to light whatever little secrets Cloud had kept hidden inside. Who knew what useful stuff he could unearth? Some blackmail material maybe? Such as evidence of Cloud being a closet cross-dresser…? Reno wrinkled his brow in mild puzzlement. Now where did that particular thought come from?

Mmm…. Cloud in a dress. Complete with laced…

Shaking off the distracting mental images in his mind, Reno determinedly pulled his mind out of the gutter and focused it on his current dilemma. He had given his word that he would keep the contents of the box unmolested, as part of his agreement with Cloud.

As Reno studied the box some more (all the while cursing his lack of X-ray vision), the Turk began to wonder what the hell had possessed him to agree to Cloud's terms in the first place. Cloud was in no position to bargain with him.

Besides, it wasn't as if Cloud expected a _Turk_ to keep his word, right?

Right?

_'I trust you to keep your word, Reno. Despite what my common sense tells me, I want to believe you when you say that you will return that box to me unopened.'_

Damn.

xXxXx

"You agreed to a _date_ with Reno?" Tifa cried out in shock and disbelief.

"No, I agreed to let him ride on my motorbike without tossing him onto incoming traffic; eat in a restaurant at the same table as him without stabbing his eyes out with a fork; accompany him to a bar without poisoning his drinks. That's all."

"That _is_ a date!" argued the brunette. "How did he manage to coerce you into this?"

"He… I… er… I feel a little bad for what happened," muttered Cloud, fixing his gaze on the countertop so that his eyes would not betray him. "He's so pitiable that saying 'no' to him is like kicking a starved puppy. And who knows? Maybe if I actually agree to something as preposterous as spending some time with him without attempting to kill him, he might lose interest and find someone else to amuse himself with. Maybe if he finally get what he wants, he'd leave me alone."

"What do you think he wants, Cloud?" For a long time, she had her suspicions; but it was only recently that she had her suspicions confirmed when Denzel revealed the redhead's true motivations to her. They had both agreed to keep it a secret from Cloud, mainly because they were afraid that the truth would spook the blond warrior so badly that he would flee Kalm and forever disappear from their lives.

Cloud frowned. "I just told you what he wanted."

"Are you so naïve as to think…?" Tifa stared at him as if she hadn't seen his species before. "You're a guy! Shouldn't you understand the male libido more than me?"

"I don't see what my understanding of libido has anything to do with Turks or their motives."

Tifa merely looked at him with an expression of fond exasperation and sighed. She approached Cloud and pulled him off the barstool he was sitting on.

"Tifa?" Cloud sounded perplexed as she spun him around. "What are you doing?"

"Damage control," answered the martial artist. "You're not bringing your Ultima Weapon to the date, I gather? So I'm going to teach you a few moves that you could use to defend yourself." In demonstration, she wrapped her arm around Cloud's neck in a headlock. "For example, if you angle your elbow like so, you could cut off the blood supply to his brain and render him unconscious momentarily."

She released Cloud and got into a ready stance for her next move. Once Cloud had turned around to face her, she lashed out one leg in a swift and upward kick up to groin height. Even though Tifa had deliberately missed, Cloud still couldn't stop himself from wincing in imaginary pain. "And this popular move is highly effective when it comes to…. Is something wrong, Cloud?"

Cloud was shaking his head in vehement protest. "There's a universal unwritten pact which dictates that guys don't kick other guys in the junk. It's just not done. It's too… dishonourable."

Tifa scoffed, "To hell with honour!"

If Zangan, Tifa's martial arts sensei, had been dead and buried, he would have turned in his grave; for the old man had repeatedly, almost obsessively, drummed the importance of the warrior's code of honour into the skulls of all his disciples. As Zangan was not dead yet, he ended up doing a full somersault and a half body twist in his sleep, causing him to fall out of bed and crack his coccyx on the floor.

Heedless of her sensei's howl of agony in a distant corner of old Midgar, Tifa continued, "We're talking about defending your honour— your chastity— here!"

Cloud grimaced. Something about the whole discussion felt inherently wrong to him. Normally, shouldn't it be the male worrying over the female's chastity and not the other way round? "You're overreacting, Tifa. Although Reno is a decadent Turk without a smidgen of decency in his bones, that doesn't mean my chastity is in danger. He acts like a shameless flirt most of the time, but he has never hit on members of the same sex before."

_Except you._ "Cloud, I fear for you. I really do."

"I appreciate your concern, but there really isn't anything to worry about." Cloud gently flicked Tifa's forehead with his index finger. "Besides, I could break Reno's backbone in several places barehanded if he tries anything funny. So stop worrying about me, okay?"

It would appear that there was little point in arguing with Cloud when he was in one of his stubborn moods. Tifa decided to keep her misgivings to herself for the time being. "Okay, but bring along my pepper spray just in case."

xXxXx

When the evening of the 'date' came, Tifa still harboured huge misgivings about Cloud's safety. However, she also knew that she couldn't push the issue further without seriously damaging Cloud's fragile ego, so she had kept quiet. She bade Cloud farewell and watched his motorcycle turn a corner and disappear from view.

It wasn't long after Cloud left that Denzel appeared at the doorstep of Seventh Heaven, looking so winded that Tifa wondered if he had sprinted the entire distance from his school without stopping. Most probably that was exactly what had happened. 'Where's Cloud?' was the first question out of the panting boy's mouth upon seeing her.

"He has left to find Reno. You just missed him."

"You let him go?" Denzel exclaimed, dropping his book bag in alarm. "To meet that perv? Alone? Gods, woman, what were you thinking?!"

Tifa's lips pressed into a thin line, evidently not appreciating the way the street urchin had addressed her. "Do you think I haven't tried my best to dissuade him? I don't know why, but Cloud is adamant that he sees Reno tonight. What else do you expect me to do? I can't exactly lock him up in his room and throw away the key. That would've been totally pointless anyway, since he could have easily smashed the door down or jumped out the window to get out."

"The least you could have done was accompany him!" Denzel started tugging on tufts of his curly hair in distress. "I can't believe you would knowingly put Cloud in danger like that!"

"Will you calm down?" said Tifa in what she hoped was her most soothing voice. "You're giving Cloud too little credit here. He's more than capable of taking care of himself."

"Do you really believe that?" When Tifa opened her mouth to reply, the boy interrupted, "Look me in the eye when you answer me."

They spent one silent minute trying to stare each other down before Tifa averted her gaze in defeat.

"Thought so." Denzel knelt down and dug inside his bag for his wallet. "I'm going after Cloud. Do you know where he's headed?"

"He would be stopping by Reno's place first…" Tifa found Denzel's fierce determination both endearing and contagious. Tifa walked over to the boy and patted his shoulder in encouragement. "Come on, let's go together. Cloud needs us."

Both woman and boy exchanged an understanding smile before marching towards the main door… Only to collide against solid wood when the door refused to budge open.

Rubbing her bruised nose, Tifa blinked at the tightly shut door in confusion. "What the…?"

No amount of tugging and pushing could get the main door to open; or the backdoor; or all the windows downstairs and upstairs.

They were trapped.

xXxXx

"The tigress and the rat have been contained. I repeat: the tigress and the rat have been contained."

"Acknowledged." Reno was in such a pleasant mood after hearing the good news that he even added, "Good job, delta-two."

The wide smile stayed on Reno's face long after he had hung up his cell phone. It was in such an expression that Cloud found him when the unarmed swordsman arrived at his apartment.

"What the hell's with that creepy smile?" growled Cloud, using gruff behaviour to conceal his uneasiness. A happy Reno was never a good thing— for everyone else concerned.

"You're early." Reno slipped on his jacket and deliberately invaded the blond's personal space as he squeezed past the doorway. "Can't wait to spend quality time with me, eh?" Reno dipped his head so that their noses were nearly touching.

Refusing to allow the Turk to intimidate him, Cloud resisted the urge to move away. Affecting nonchalance, he snorted, "The sooner we start, the sooner we can finish. Let's get this unpleasant business over and done with."

The turmoil of emotions that flickered across Reno's face was too complex for Cloud to decipher them all, but he could definitely sense a strong undercurrent of rage. _What the hell?_ Reno was angry with him? What _right_ did the redhead have to be angry with him?

"Don't you worry, Cloud," said Reno huskily. "It all ends tonight. One way or another."

For some reason, the Turk's words gave Cloud very little comfort.

_(To be continued)_

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**A/N:** I apologize for the slow update and the relatively short chapter. I had been distracted by another idea for a fic recently and I had to finish writing that one first before I could concentrate on this one.

I want to thank those of you who had so kindly left reviews to brighten my day. One thing that struck me as I was reading through the reviews was that I have some very perceptive readers following this story. I try to aim for subtlety in my storytelling, so I get oddly excited and pleased when there are people who could pick up the hints and correctly guess what's happening and what is yet to come. And no, I would not identify which reviewer(s) had gotten it right, as doing so would totally ruin what little suspense this fic has :P


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary:** Reno will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Cloud finds this out the hard way. A prequel of sorts to 'Snapshots.'

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII characters belong to SquareSoft, now known as SquareEnix… I think. Whatever the case, I don't own them.

**Tactics**

**A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by ntc**

_Mission objective: Cohabitation with Cloud_

"Get on," said Cloud curtly, indicating the backseat of Fenrir with a sharp jerk of his head.

"Aren't you going to hand me the key?"

The expression on Cloud's face was of such vivid consternation and incredulity that it bordered on being insulting. "That wasn't part of our arrangement. Also, I'm not suicidal; so letting you ride this bike is out of question."

"Pfft, spoilsport." grumbled Reno as he slid onto the seat behind Cloud. "I've handled transport vehicles much more complicated than this two-wheel machine of yours. I'd have you know that not a single passenger of mine has ever once complained about my piloting skills when I fly the Shinra helicopter on errands."

"One can't complain when one has passed out from terror."

"Did you just attempt to make a funny?" Reno whistled. "I'm impressed."

Cloud ignored the jibe and inserted the key into the ignition switch. As the engine blared into life, one of Tifa's numerous warnings resurfaced in Cloud's mind. It had sounded quite silly and unnecessary when Cloud first heard it, but he decided that some precautions wouldn't hurt. "Just so we're clear on how we're going to do this, I want you to hang onto the seat to steady yourself if necessary. Do not, at any point in time, attempt to grab onto any part of me. Is that understood?"

When Reno failed to answer him, Cloud turned to glance over his shoulder at the unusually quiet Turk behind him. "Reno?"

"Paranoid little bugger, aren't you?" A scowl of displeasure had appeared on Reno's face. "You'd rather I become road kill just so you can keep your pristine body free from the taint of my touch?"

"Look, I don't mean—"

"Am I so disgusting and repugnant that you have to treat me like some kind of diseased, parasite-infested…"

"I never said—"

"Well, _excuse me_ for breathing and polluting the air with the foul stench of my…"

"Okay, fine! Hold onto my waist if you have to!" Cloud snapped, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Why was Reno being so oversensitive all of a sudden? "But I'm warning you: if those hands of yours so much as move one centimeter below my belt, I will not hesitate to castrate you."

"I thought I told you not to carry any sharp and pointy objects." And because he couldn't resist, Reno added, "Excluding your hair, of course."

Cloud's face took on a scowl that mirrored Reno's own. "I don't need sharp tools to castrate you, Reno. Think about that very, very carefully the next time you feel tempted to do something stupid."

When Reno became quiet again, Cloud assumed that the redhead had finally gotten the message. Confident that his threat had worked, Cloud remained unaffected when Reno's arms encircled his waist. He continued to remain unaffected even when Reno's fingers curled and brushed lightly against his abdomen. As long as he chose not to let those feathery light touches affect him, they could both pretend that the physical contact was entirely platonic and inconsequential.

Unfortunately for Cloud, Reno had no intention of pretending.

Two minutes into their journey, Cloud jolted in his seat, swerved, and missed crashing into a lamppost by the skin of his teeth. He swiveled his head around so fast that he nearly pulled a muscle in his neck. "What the hell was that?!" yelled Cloud in a slightly strangled voice.

"Oops." Reno was impassive in the face of Cloud's withering glare. "My hand slipped."

"If you want that hand to stay attached to your arm, you'd better make sure it doesn't slip again!" Cloud barked.

"My hand? I thought it's another body part of mine that's under threat of detachment."

"That too!" growled Cloud angrily as he reversed his motorcycle back onto the road. "What's the matter with you? If I don't know better, I'd think that you actually want to be— Ack!"

When Reno moved his hand this time, Cloud nearly rear-ended into an elderly couple on the zebra crossing. He had to delay unleashing his fury on Reno in favour of apologizing profusely to the petrified couple and offering to pay for the damages on their mangled four-wheelie frames. Cloud looked like hell warmed over when he turned his attention back on his tormentor.

"You want me to emasculate you, Reno?" hissed Cloud icily, radiating a murderous aura that triggered the survival instincts of all living creatures within a fifty-metre radius and had them scurrying away in mindless fear. All except Reno. "Because I can't think of any other reason for what you just did."

"As you suggested, I've thought about it very, very carefully," answered Reno, completely unfazed.

"And?" Cloud ground out through clenched teeth.

Reno leered at him. "I've concluded that if this is the only way for that part of my anatomy to see some action from you, I really wouldn't mind at all."

Cloud was at a loss as to how to respond to Reno's blatant sexual proposition. Also, he couldn't quite decide whether the flutter in the pit of his stomach was the result of plain nausea or metaphorical butterflies. Was Reno serious or was this just another tasteless joke aimed at making him uncomfortable? Cloud was more inclined to believe that it was the latter. Reno's continual harassment these past few months was solid proof that the Turk must be getting his kicks from provoking him

No, wait, Reno was never one who did things without a purpose in mind. The redhead's actions may appear incomprehensible, crazy or self-defeating on the surface; but they were always deliberate and calculated. Wasn't that how Reno had gained possession of his box in the first place? So what was Reno currently trying to achieve with his overtly flirtatious behaviour? _Ah, I see…_

Rolling his eyes, Cloud muttered, "Fine, you win. I'll let you ride Fenrir." The look of disappointment on Reno's face puzzled Cloud. Wasn't this Reno's ulterior motive all along? "Move over. I'm sitting at the back now."

xXxXx

That dense, moronic, ignorant, naïve imbecile! How much more obvious did he have to be? He was already as subtle as a brick to the skull, and the damned blond was still acting as if he hadn't a clue as to what this whole date was about. It was hard to tell if Cloud was truly as ignorant as he looked, or if he was only pretending to be ignorant for the sole purpose of driving him nuts.

In his frustration, Reno purposely accelerated and turned around corners at breakneck speeds. He became more frustrated when his daredevil stunts utterly failed to cause Cloud to hold onto him. Maintaining his balance with the strong grip of his legs and instinctive shifts in his weight, the blond fighter had skillfully kept their bodies apart throughout the trip to the restaurant.

Cloud grimaced at each loud squeal made by the abused tyres of his motorcycle. "Do you have to speed so much? I just replaced the tyres last month."

"So?" Reno's retort was waspish. "Just replace them again."

Reno felt, more than heard, the quiet sigh behind him. "Are you angry about something, Reno? You've been acting strangely."

"You're imagining things," said Reno hoarsely, suddenly grateful for the rushing wind which muffled his voice. "I'm always like this."

They made no further conversation until they arrived at the Wutaian restaurant at Sector Three of old Midgar. In Reno's opinion, if it hadn't been for its ridiculous name— 'The Chocobo Plume' of all things! — the restaurant would have been able to attract a more respectable and rich clientele. Reno had chosen it because of its decent food, the reasonable price and, most importantly, the fact that he hadn't been banned from the premises yet.

The usher at the entrance arched an eyebrow in surprise when Reno gave his name for the reservation but wisely made no comment. They were directed towards a dimly lit booth which was located in a corner to afford more privacy. Red candles were burning on a well-polished candelabrum at the centre of the table, nestled among crystal vases overflowing with blood-red roses. A bottle of expensive champagne was chilling in a bucket of melting ice by the table. A light scent of flowers and burning wax permeated the air.

'_There,' _thought Reno with fierce satisfaction. '_You can't get any more bloody obvious than this._' Cloud would have to be either as blind as a bat or as thick as cement to fail to get the hint.

"Do they offer special discounts for couples in this place?" asked Cloud curiously.

Cloud's question was so unexpected that it felt like a complete _non sequitur_. Reno frowned. "Why do you ask that?"

"Isn't that why we're somehow allocated a table that's saturated with so much romantic ambience that it's almost embarrassing?"

As thick as cement it is then.

"No," Reno grated. "I've especially arranged this for tonight."

"Oh." Cloud gave him a perplexed look before returning his gaze to the menu in his hands. "I thought I was the only victim you managed to bully into having dinner with you. Is your date coming to join us soon?"

Reno had to savagely beat down the urge to hurl himself across the table, seize hold of those naked, enticing upper arms and do something so physical and intimate that it would leave no doubt as to the nature of his attraction to the blond. Never mind that they were in a public place; and never mind that Cloud would most likely castrate him for real this time. He had waited for Cloud long enough. He had tried to be patient and understanding all these years. He had demonstrated considerable self-restraint when, previously, such a word did not even exist in his dictionary. How long was he to be denied the only thing he ever wanted?

Before Cloud could suspect anything, Reno quickly schooled his features and slapped a vacuous smile on his face. If Cloud wanted to play dumb, he would play along with him for now. No sense in setting off Cloud's internal alarms and defenses prematurely. After all, there would be more opportunities later on for confrontations.

"She couldn't make it tonight. Said something about having to lose five pounds before she could fit into an evening gown she had just bought," lied Reno with well-practised ease. "So it's going to be just the two of us tonight, beautiful."

The muscles in Cloud's arms contracted in a sudden spasm, reducing the menu in his hands into a balled-up wad of cardboard. Pale eyebrows began twitching uncontrollably, a manifestation of their owner's highly aggravated state. "No more terms of endearment if you value your life, Reno. I mean it."

Sighing despondently, Reno slouched in his cushioned chair and waited for the waiter to come and take their orders. Why was it that his conversations with Cloud were always fraught with threats of mutilation or execution? Reno needed a proper icebreaker if they were to avoid spending the entire evening growling at each other like a couple of pit bull terriers.

And he knew just the thing that would serve that purpose.

xXxXx

Fact: The Heimlich manoeuver, and _not_ mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, is the first aid treatment of choice for choking victims.

Reno came to realize this only too late when his pretend-choke (which included clawing at the throat and making high-pitched whistling noises) had resulted in a badly crushed ribcage instead of the hot lip-locking activity he had anticipated. The stocky blond, despite being a good few inches shorter than him, had lifted him up with embarrassing ease from behind and damned near broke all his lower ribs in an attempt to dislodge the non-existent foreign body from his windpipe. Cloud had given him three more brutal abdominal thrusts before Reno managed to wheeze out an audible and somewhat desperate 'Argh! I'm fine! I'm fine! For Ifrit's sake, stop it already!'

Well, at least Cloud cared enough about him to take action to save his life, right? However, as each breath he took accentuated the severe ache in his contused lungs, Reno began to wonder if what the blond did was attempted murder instead.

Reno groaned. "Thanks to you, Mr. I-don't-know-my-own-strength, I'll need a stiff drink after this to numb the pain."

Cloud narrowed his eyes at him. "You have a strange way of thanking someone who may have just saved your life."

Reno wanted to argue that his life wasn't even in danger until Cloud started administering his clumsy, heavy-handed first aid, but the danger of revealing that he had faked the choking kept him silent. If Cloud could accidentally kill him while trying to save his life, Reno didn't want to find out what a pissed-off Cloud intent on hurting him was capable of.

They finished the rest of their meal without further incident.

xXxXx

"Don't you think you've killed enough liver cells for one night?" commented Cloud as he watched Reno gulp down his third pint of beer followed by his fifth shot of whiskey. He had to raise his voice above the loud dance music in the background to make himself heard. "You've already drunk most of the champagne in the restaurant just now. That's already twice the daily healthy limit and four times the legal limit for driving, not counting what you've chugged down since we've arrived here."

"Am still too sober," mumbled the redhead with a lopsided grin. "Can't stop yet."

Something about Reno's determination to become completely plastered caused another one of Tifa's warnings to ring in Cloud's mind like alarm bells. "If you think you can start groping me later and blame it on the alcohol, you've got another think coming."

For a brief second, Reno had the unmistakable look of a child caught with one hand in the cookie jar, but he rallied magnificently. "Hah, give me a little credit, will ya? What makes you think I'd want to grope you at all?"

"We're in a gay bar, Reno," said Cloud in a flat monotone. "You've brought me to a gay bar."

''Ah, so you've noticed." Reno's grey eyes glittered with an unreadable emotion. "You've got that innocent prude act going so convincingly that I was sure you wouldn't know what a gay bar is even if one bit you on the ass."

"Bars are incapable of biting anyone's ass. Gay or otherwise."

"What are you? My English language teacher or something? Geez, lighten up will ya, you insufferable stiff. All I'm saying is that I'm surprised that you've noticed what kind of place this is."

"It's hard not to notice when you see two men attempting to eat each other's faces on the way in."

Reno let out a derisive snort. "You didn't think that they were really, really close friends?"

"Just because I'm not steeped in decadence and debauchery like you doesn't mean I'm deaf, dumb, blind or ignorant," grumbled Cloud, an irritated scowl marring his smooth features. The blond grabbed the shot glass on the table before him and knocked back the remaining mouthful of whiskey in it. He coughed.

"You could've fooled me," muttered Reno darkly under his breath.

"What did you say?"

Reno quickly changed the subject. "I said 'Would you like to dance?'"

''Wha...?" Cloud thought he had misheard Reno until he saw the Turk gesturing towards the gyrating mass of bodies on the dance floor. "Of course not!" Cloud near-shouted in a scandalized tone.

"Why not? Look at those people. They're having smashing fun," Reno pointed out encouragingly. "Don't tell me that you're buying that 'straight men never dance' rumour. Besides, if you're confident of your own sexuality, you wouldn't feel so threatened..."

"I have nothing against dancing in general," Cloud snapped, silently fighting to keep his cheeks free from humiliating blushes. "But whatever those couples are doing is definitely _not_ dancing. I'm pretty sure that if one of them had been female, they would be expecting a baby nine months down the track."

Reno appeared highly amused by his awkward and flustered state. The bastard. "It's okay to say the 'S' word, Cloud. You're an adult now. Come on, say it. Say that you think they're having se—"

"That's enough!" interrupted Cloud determinedly. "I think we've reached the quota of lewd conversations that I can stomach for today."

"What do you think of two men rolling in the haystack by the way? You don't think that there's anything _wrong_ with it, do you?" Reno watched Cloud closely. "Have you ever done it before?"

"Quota, Reno," warned Cloud, wishing that he could be anywhere but where he was, having any other conversation but the one he found himself currently stuck in the middle of.

"With a mug like yours, of course you've done it before. How many times, Cloud? How many partners?" It was the worst possible way he could think of to interrogate Cloud about his sex life, but Reno found that he couldn't stop once he started. More than morbid curiosity or the desire to unsettle the blond was driving him now. He wanted to know. He needed to know.

Cloud abruptly stood up, nearly tipping the table over in the process. His eyes were spitting blue ocular fire even as his face remained expressionless. "I'm leaving now."

Before Cloud could turn his back on him and walk away, Reno blurted, "The box is still with me, Cloud."

"Then hand it over," commanded Cloud, hating the slight quiver in his voice. "I've fulfilled my end of the bargain already."

"It's in my apartment." Rising to his feet, Reno wobbled and hurriedly grabbed onto the edge of the table to support himself. "Uh… I don't think I'm capable of walking at the moment. I'm afraid you'll have to carry me…"

"If you think I'd fall for—" Cloud began angrily.

"Look, do you want the box or not? If you want it, then you'll have to physically transport me there so that I can give it to you." Reno could no longer hold back his own anger. "The sooner you do this, the sooner you can get that damned box back!"

Although Cloud was taken aback by Reno's heated outburst, he quickly masked it by moving forward. He turned around and knelt down with his back towards the Turk. "Get on. Arms over my shoulders. I'll be holding onto the back of your knees to lift you."

Reno wordlessly did as he was told. The redhead's arms were surprisingly well behaved this time as they were draped over his shoulders and pressing lightly against the front of his chest. They were both silent as Cloud walked out of the bar and towards the parking lot where Fenrir was parked.

"This feels familiar," murmured Reno suddenly, breaking the brief, contemplative silence which had enveloped them both.

Cloud suppressed the shiver that threatened to travel down his spine at the feel of Reno's warm, moist breath on the nape of his neck. "What feels familiar?"

"Being carried like this." Reno shifted his head so that his nose was now buried in Cloud's hair. Eyes closed, he inhaled slowly and deeply; and especially quietly so that the blond was not aware of his actions.

Cloud snorted. "It's no wonder that this feels familiar to you. I bet you get shit-faced drunk so often that Rude has to carry you home every time."

"Maybe." Reno flexed his arms at the elbows so that he could grasp each of Cloud's shoulders in each hand. The fact that Cloud had stiffened briefly at his touch did not escape him. "Your shoulders… They only looked broad because you wear these collarless, sleeveless tops all the time. But they're actually quite slim. I can sling one arm across both your shoulders easily."

Cloud didn't know how to respond to Reno's strange observation, so he remained quiet. After setting Reno down on the passenger seat, he climbed onto the front seat and drew both Reno's hands together at his waist. "Hold on tight. I won't be held responsible if you lose your grip and tumble off the motorcycle." Cloud started the engine and they were soon speeding back towards Reno's apartment.

When Reno was sure that his voice would be carried away by the wind rushing past them, he whispered, "I'm sorry, Cloud."

"Did you say something?" asked Cloud.

"It's nothing," said Reno, more loudly this time.

_I'm sorry for what I'm about to do._

xXxXx

Cloud stood sullenly at the doorway, apparently reluctant to take another step into his apartment. "You can just hand me the thing and I'll be off."

"What's the hurry?" Reno gestured impatiently towards the sofas in his lounge. "Why don't you take a seat?"

"I'd rather not," countered Cloud stubbornly.

"Stop arguing with me and just do what I say." At this point, Reno felt a sudden surge of shame, but he squashed down the last trace of his conscience ruthlessly. "You want that box, don't you?"

Cloud shot him a furious glare but quietly did as he was told. Reno went to the mini bar fridge in his kitchen and poured out a glass of red wine.

"Haven't you had enough alcohol for tonight?" asked Cloud incredulously.

"This isn't for me," said Reno, his expression uncharacteristically grim.

Cloud was about to protest that he wasn't in the mood to drink either, but Reno's serious look made him hold his tongue.

Reno placed the glass of wine right in front of him. "Drink this up, and I'll return the box to you."

Cloud wished that he could tell what the Turk was up to. The skin on his arms prickled with a vague sense of danger, as if he was about to step on a landmine. Strange. In all the time that he had known Reno, this was the first time he felt any sense of danger when he was with the Turk. "What's so special about this particular glass of wine?"

"I've put something in it, of course. Isn't it obvious?" answered Reno flippantly.

Whatever else could be said about Reno, he certainly wasn't one to hide things. "What did you put in it?" Cloud carefully kept his voice devoid of the nervousness he felt.

"Oh, it could be a number of things," said Reno with a decidedly evil smirk. "It could be a deadly poison that would kill you instantly. Or a sedative of some kind. Or maybe even an aphrodisiac. You might wake up and find yourself in a frilly dress, soon to become the newest addition to Don Corneo's harem. Alternatively, you might wake up stark naked and handcuffed to— What the hell are you doing?!"

Cloud had raised the rim of the glass to his lips. "What?" Cloud demanded, eyes burning feverishly. "Isn't this what you want?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I told you what could possibly happen if—"

"You'll give me the box only if I do this, right?" interjected Cloud softly. Before his courage could leave him, Cloud tilted the stem of the glass to pour the purple liquid into his mouth. The bitter taste of the wine had barely touched his lips before Reno struck the glass out of his hand. The glass smashed into pieces on the hard tiles, spilling red droplets of wine everywhere.

"What is wrong with you?!" Cloud cried angrily. "Make up your goddamned mind, Reno! Do you want me to drink it or…?"

Reno was breathing heavily. His body was trembling. "I burnt it."

Something about the way Reno said it filled Cloud with dread, even though he still couldn't understand what the Turk was saying. "What… do you mean?"

"That pink ribbon? I burnt it. Those photographs? Those rolls of film? I've burnt them all."

The shock was so strong that it felt akin to being stabbed in the chest. "You're lying." Cloud was surprised at how calm he sounded. "You told me that you wouldn't open that box. You promised—"

"Yes, I'm a liar! I was lying when I said I would return those things to you! Fact is, I destroyed them the moment I saw them…"

There was a cracking sound. Cloud wasn't sure whether it was sound of the world crumbling around him, or the shattering sound of a lamp that was knocked over when he threw himself at Reno in a blind fury. His mind was in such a blank haze, and his body felt so sluggish, that Cloud idly wondered if it was a sedative that Reno had put into the wine after all. He collapsed onto the floor on his back with the Turk tumbling on top of him.

"Why?" Cloud felt so drained that he could not find the strength to push Reno off him. "Damn you, Reno. Why did you do it?"

"Why?" echoed Reno, his face a mask of equal fury and anguish. Reno clutched the front of Cloud's shirt and roughly pulled their faces closer together so that they were soon drowning in the chaotic emotions in each other's eyes. "Because they're dead, Cloud! When are you going to accept that, you fool! They're dead, and I'm alive! I'm… alive…" Then, for some strange reason, Reno's eyes suddenly widened in shock. He let go and stumbled back so frantically that it seemed as if he couldn't get away fast enough.

Cloud continued to lie motionless on the floor, staring at the ceiling of Reno's apartment with unseeing eyes. He heard the door open and close, and Reno's footsteps fading gradually with distance.

_What the hell just happened?_

As Cloud was pondering over Reno's unexplainable behaviour, he began to notice something else. A wetness on his cheek that he wasn't aware of earlier. A wetness that he hadn't experienced for a long time. He had thought himself incapable of shedding tears ever since Zack's death, but this latest development had proven him wrong.

He let the tears flow freely, reveling in his ability to cry and feel once more. It was both a curse and a blessing to him.

And it was all Reno's fault.

(_To be concluded_)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**A/N: **Eep. Sorry for the angsty turn this fic took at the end of the chapter. It was difficult to maintain the light-hearted humour with Reno behaving less like a harmless buffoon and more like a complete jackass. An angsty jackass, at that.

So, the contents of the box had been revealed at last. Yup, I cheated. It wasn't just one thing in particular, but a load of little things. Mementos of Cloud's loved ones, as one reviewer had put it. Before you start scratching your head and wondering 'Why photos?', let me just remind you that this fic has ties with 'Snapshots'; and for those of you familiar with 'Snapshots', you would know that photographs play an important role in the story.

Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing this fic. I hope you'll continue to read this story to its conclusion despite its drastic drop in humour. Cheers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary:** Reno will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Cloud finds this out the hard way. A prequel of sorts to 'Snapshots.'

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII characters belong to SquareSoft, now known as SquareEnix… I think. Whatever the case, I don't own them.

**A/N:** First and foremost, I'd like to thank **kazuhiko**, a wonderful writer in her own right,for graciously offering to beta-read this chapter for me. Secondly, I apologize for the late update. I had meant for chapter 6 (i.e. this chapter) to be the last, but when the unfinished draft wound up being nearly ten thousand words long, I knew I had to split it up. The next chapter should be up in a week or two. Hmm… I'm afraid this chapter can be somewhat confusing and difficult to follow. This fic, like 'Snapshots', is mildly AU in the sense that some of the significant past events had been intentionally altered for the purposes of the story. For those of you having trouble understanding what's going on, I'm more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Reading 'Snapshots' might help too, though it's not really necessary. I hope you enjoy the read. Feedback is much appreciated. Cheers.

**Tactics **

**A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by ntc **

_Mission objective: Cohabitation with Cloud_

'Tifa? It's Cloud. I'm calling to let you know that I won't be coming back tonight. I just need to… um…' There was a brief pause, followed by a shuddery intake of breath that was barely audible. 'You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine. Really. And, uh, I'll see… I'll call again. Goodbye.'

The message on her answering machine ended with a heart-sinking beep. The more Tifa listened to the message, the more concerned she became. Her perceptive ears could detect a definite brittle quality to Cloud's voice, despite his efforts to sound calm and reassuring on the phone. Cloud's message was nothing short of a blatant attempt to dispel her worries; albeit an unsuccessful one. Cloud usually wasn't one to answer his voice messages, much less leave behind voice messages of his own. The fact that he had done so this time only showed how desperate he was in making sure that no one would go looking for him. Tifa's heart ached with the thought that Cloud had chosen to shut her out at a time when he clearly needed someone with him.

By the time she and Denzel had managed to break down the main door of Seventh Heaven (some twisted prankster had bonded the edges of the door to its wooden frame with a strong adhesive) and find their way to Reno's apartment (she had had to resort to manhandling and terrorizing a whole team of security guards to gain entrance into the condominium), neither Cloud nor Reno could be found. What had set Tifa's teeth on edge were the signs of a scuffle she saw at the Turk's place— broken glass, spilt wine and smashed furniture. She couldn't even comfort herself with the thought that maybe they were the result of Cloud losing his temper and finally giving Reno the long overdue thumping he so rightly deserved. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something really bad had happened.

Denzel nearly chewed off the tip of his thumb in his agitation. "I knew we shouldn't have allowed Cloud to meet that pervert alone! I knew it! I bet this was all planned right from the beginning! It's too much of a coincidence that we were sealed inside Seventh Heaven at the same time that Cloud had gone to meet up with that bastard."

Tifa found herself nodding in agreement. "I wouldn't put it past Reno to do something like that to secure some alone time with Cloud." A worried frown knitted her eyebrows. "It looks as if not everything had gone according to Reno's plans though."

"Goddamn it!" Denzel proceeded to curse with a vocabulary almost as vulgar and extensive as Cid Highwind's. Under normal circumstances, Tifa would have reproved Denzel for his language; but the current circumstances were anything but normal. If it wasn't for the boy's presence which reminded her of her obligation to act like a level-headed adult, Tifa was quite sure that she would be doing something similar, with the addition of property damage.

After Denzel's rant had run its course and died down, Tifa reached out to place a comforting hand on the boy's trembling shoulder. "Why don't we return to Seventh Heaven? Cloud might be back there already, waiting for us." She had to remain optimistic for both of them.

They had left Reno's apartment and walked back to Seventh Heaven with heavy hearts; hearts that became even more heavy when they arrived at the bar to find that Cloud's motorcycle was nowhere in sight. When they discovered Cloud's message on the answering machine, they were both initially surprised and relieved. Their relief, however, did not last long when it became apparent that Cloud had deliberately avoided any mention of his returning to Seventh Heaven.

"What if he's not coming back?" Denzel's words came out as a harsh whisper. "What if he decided to leave us?"

Tifa began to protest, "Cloud wouldn't do that…"

"Stop kidding yourself! We both know that he's been meaning to leave; to live somewhere else on his own. The only reason why Cloud stayed here with us these past few weeks was because that jerk of a Turk removed all his other accommodation options. Hah, guess I should've thanked that bastard…"

"Denzel…"

"Let me finish!" cried Denzel in a strained voice. The boy kept his back to her as he continued, "The truth is that Cloud was never comfortable living here! He cares about us; I don't deny that. Maybe he cares enough to pretend that settling down here with us is something he actually wants. But I know that, for a while now, he's been looking for a reason to leave. And tonight… tonight… I'm afraid he found that reason, thanks to that damnable spawn of Satan. Cloud's gone and… I don't think he's coming back."

Tifa spoke gently, "If that's the case, I'll just have to look for him and bring him home. And I will find him, Denzel. I promise." Her gentle voice took on a hard edge. "I won't let him disappear like that without so much as a 'by your leave' or an explanation of some kind. When I get him back, we'll take turns drumming some sense into that thick chocobo head of his, how about that?"

Denzel sniffled and rubbed his eyes surreptitiously before turning to give her a curt nod. The young orphan's pink nose spoiled the otherwise perfect stoic mask, but Tifa pretended not to notice.

It took her more than an hour to persuade Denzel to retire to bed for the night. Like her, Denzel had been clinging to the hope that Cloud would turn up and was determined to await his return. In the end, she managed to convince the boy to sleep with the argument that she would stay up and wait for Cloud tonight whereas he could have his turn the next day.

Tifa cast her bleary eyes at the digital clock on her desk, which read ten minutes after five in the morning. Having nothing better to do to pass the time, she had replayed and listened to Cloud's message several times. That wasn't the smartest thing to do, seeing as how it only heightened her anxiety and made Cloud's ongoing absence all the more unbearable.

She would find out what happened to Cloud last night. She would get her answers from the one man who was able to shed light on the matter.

Even if she had to break every single one of the two hundred and six bones in Reno 's body.

xXxXxXx

"Are you planning to run away?" Arms akimbo, the blond haired woman glared at the beefy Turk who was trying to sneak out of the Shinra building by the back exit.

Grateful for his tanned skin which hid his flush of embarrassment, Rude straightened himself up and coolly retorted, "Who's running away? One of us has to go and look for Reno. Seeing as how I'm the one most familiar with his behavioral patterns and usual haunts, the choice is obvious."

"You're leaving me to handle that bitch from hell who's currently beating the living crap out of all the guards stationed at the lobby?"

"Don't call her that," growled Rude warningly. "Strife is missing. As his friend, she has a right to be concerned."

The female Turk crossed her arms. "Since you have such great sympathy for her cause, why don't you go downstairs and handle her?"

"Because I can't handle her, that's why!" The petite blonde merely raised an eyebrow at his wimpy outburst. Rude cleared his throat self-consciously. "She wants to know where Strife is and she's after Reno because of that. I can't help her, since I have yet to find Reno and interrogate him myself. You'll just have to try your best to convince her that Reno isn't here."

"I have a better idea. Why don't I just order the snipers to open fire, riddle her with volley upon volley of bullets, and then bury her corpse in a dumpster somewhere? It's much easier that way."

The utter lack of sarcasm in his colleague's voice worried Rude. "You're a very disturbing and violent woman, Elena. And I thought Scarlet was bad."

"Why do you think I got this job?"

Rude didn't wish to touch on an old yet still highly sensitive subject, but he felt compelled to pull out his trump card to ensure Tifa's safety. "You owe it to Strife to handle this situation peacefully. You've already taken away one person he cares about. I doubt he'd appreciate another."

"You…" Elena's jaw sagged open in shocked surprise but she quickly clenched it shut in anger. "That's hitting below the belt, you asshole!"

"I know." Rude calmly met her enraged gaze until she blinked and looked away. Her lips quivered with the rush of guilt and shame.

Rude gave a comforting pat on Elena's back as he walked past her. He was reaching for the door handle when Elena spoke up suddenly, "Do you think he'll ever forgive me, Rude?"

Pausing at the doorway, Rude asked, "Who? Strife?"

Elena released a bitter laugh. "I don't expect forgiveness from him. I know I'll never have it." She bit her lower lip. "I'm referring to Reno . You know… We used to have this easy camaraderie between us, though he had an annoying habit of treating me like a wet-behind-the-ears kid. But ever since… that day… he's been acting cold and distant towards me."

"Really?" Rude frowned. "I haven't noticed anything of that kind."

"Oh, it's nothing obvious like throwing insults in my face or ignoring me completely. Reno still treats me with respect, or what qualifies as 'respect' for someone like him, and we still work well together as a team. But he's just so damned… _professional_ when he deals with me. He no longer treats me like a wet-behind-the-ears kid."

"I thought that habit of his annoyed you."

"It did." Elena lowered her head. "But isn't that how Reno shows that he cares about someone? By annoying them? It's something like the juvenile behavior displayed by kindergartners who pick on the people they like."

Rude's lips curled up in amusement. "If that's true, he must care about everyone around him."

Elena responded with a small smile of her own, but her eyes remained troubled.

When Elena's gloomy mood showed no signs of receding, Rude sighed. "Okay, since it's my fault that this depressing subject was ever brought up, I'll confront Reno about this when I see him."

Elena's smile widened in gratitude. "Thank you, Rude."

xXxXxXx

To Tifa's great disappointment, her foray into Shinra headquarters ended up as a total waste of time.

Taut nerves and lack of sleep had put a tremendous strain on her patience; and before she knew it, she found herself in the middle of a melee, delivering head concussions, broken jaws and shattered kneecaps all around with brutal efficiency. The brawl was effectively put to an end by two warning shots fired into the air. The guards surrounding her hastily parted to make way for a slim woman wearing a crisp, tailored suit and a no-nonsense expression. They warily sized each other up for a few moments before the other woman broke the silence and insisted to her that Reno was not in the building. Unconvinced, Tifa demanded to comb the place personally, and was surprised when her demands were met without argument or resistance. She should have suspected that her easy access most likely meant that the woman was speaking the truth, but her stubbornness held out and she spent more than three hours checking out every nook and cranny of every room on every floor.

It was mid-afternoon when she left the building, and she still wasn't any closer to finding Reno or Cloud.

She was running out of ideas for where she could locate either of the two men. Earlier, at the break of dawn, she began searching for Cloud by visiting all the people she knew in the town— Elmyra, the street orphans and even her sensei Zangan— but none of them had seen him. Checking out the church in the slums where Cloud used to stay was her next step, but she found it to be forlornly empty. In fact, there was no trace of anyone having ever stepped into the building for many weeks, if the thick layer of dust coating the floor was any indication. Moreover, the flowerbed next to the pews was in a state of sad neglect, with almost as many weeds growing in it as there were flowers. If Cloud had visited the church, he would never have left without tending to the needs of the small garden first. The flowers had been Aeris's legacy, and Cloud would never…

Tifa stopped the thought before the feeling of tightness inside her chest became too much to bear. The tightness always came on whenever she thought about Cloud and Aeris at the same time. The only way to ease it was to stop thinking.

She was jarred out of her depressing thoughts when her phone started ringing. Tifa had to cast a quick glance around before she recognized where she was. Had she wandered all the way back to Seventh Heaven without even being aware of it? She really should do something about this dangerous tendency of hers to space out every time her thoughts consumed her…

_Gah__! You're doing it again! Answer the phone before it gets cut off by the answering machine, you fool!_

The brunette dashed up the stairs and grabbed the phone with frantic eagerness. "Hello? Cloud?" said Tifa breathlessly. "Is that you?" _Please let it be him. Please let it be him…_

After a long moment of quiet hesitation, the person on the other end of the line decided to respond. "No. It's me."

Upon recognizing the voice, Tifa's eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed into angry slits. "You! You have some nerve calling here!"

"I'm not interested in picking a fight with you."

"You're not, but I am!" Tifa practically snarled. She was gripping the handset so tightly that the hard plastic was making ominous creaking sounds. "Tell me where you are, you scumbag!"

"Do I look like an idiot to you, woman? But I can tell you where Cloud is, if you're interested."

"When I get my hands on you, you piece of turd, they'll need to identify you through your dental… No, scratch that. By the time I'm done with you, you won't have any teeth left! It'll have to be either DNA testing or…" Tifa's diatribe screeched to an abrupt halt when her brain finally caught up with what her ears were telling her. "…What?"

"I know where Cloud is. Do me a favor and… Look, just check up on him, will ya?"

Tifa nodded dumbly before it occurred to her that her caller wouldn't be able to see her. She hastily spoke up, "Where is he?"

xXxXxXx

Everything hurt.

His head felt like it was about to explode. Liquid fire seemed to be flowing in his veins. His hands were caked with mud and blood. All his fingernails were cracked and bleeding, though the superficial pain was a welcomed distraction from the greater pain that was tearing him up from the inside. He refused to think about how his hands had come to be coated with blood— his own, and someone else's… mostly someone else's. There were too many confusing noises in his head. Gunfire. Shouts. Screams. He whimpered. He just wanted everything to stop. The noises. The pain. Everything.

In his foggy state of mind, he slowly became aware of the warm back that he was pressed against. Someone was carrying him; holding him so carefully and gently, as if he was made of spun glass.

"Hang in there, Shorty," said the owner of the warm back. "We're almost there."

Heedless of the wounds on his fingertips, he fisted his hands in the fabric of the shirt worn by his rescuer. Long, messy hair tickled his nose as he held on tightly. "Zack?"

The person carrying him made no reply. Despite this, he was not disheartened. He almost wanted to laugh and weep in immense relief.

"I had the most horrible nightmare. I dreamt that you died. You were shot and I… I buried you. It felt very real though."

More silence.

To his mortification, he suddenly realized that his cheeks were wet. Had he been crying? Why was he crying? "Gods, look at me— whining and breaking down over some silly dream. How pathetic can a guy get, right?"

When there was still no response this time, fear and uncertainty spread their inky tendrils into his mind. He tried to force down his panic.

"Say something," he pleaded. He hated the weak sound of his own voice. "Please say something to show me that you're really here with me. Show me that I'm not just imagining this."

"I'm really here, Cloud. And I will never leave you," said his rescuer softly. "Not even if you want me to."

With the feeling of peace that came with the promise, he drifted off to sleep once more, a serene smile on his face.

When he woke up, he found himself alone in a train station, where before there had only been rocks and wasteland. Before his mind could process where he was and why he felt as if someone, or something, important was missing, he heard a familiar female voice calling out to him from behind.

"Cloud?"

He turned around and was greeted by the sight of an old friend he had not seen in years. _Tifa?_

xXxXxXx

"Cloud!"

In his state of physical and emotional exhaustion, it took a while for Cloud to gather enough energy to force his eyelids open. Tifa's worried visage immediately took on a look of utter relief and joy when their eyes met. The sight of her baggy, raccoon-like eyes immediately filled him with guilt. Apparently his phone message did nothing to assuage her anxiety.

The brunette threw her arms around his shoulders and crushed him in a tight embrace. "Thank all the gods you're alright!"

Cloud was silent as he gazed past Tifa's shoulders at the rusty broadsword that was half-embedded into the ground. Yes, this was where he had retreated to the previous night. After losing all the photographs he had of Zack, at least he still had this buster sword to remind him of what he had lost. His dream… Was it really a dream? Or was it his past memories? In a daze, he slowly brought his hands up to examine his fingers. There was no blood covering them. No, of course there wouldn't be any blood. He had buried Zack a long time ago.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tifa still hadn't released him from her hug, for which Cloud was grateful. He didn't think he would be able to maintain his upright position without her supporting arms around him.

Cloud made a sound that would have been a laugh, if it wasn't filled with so much grief. "No. Not really."

Tifa stiffened slightly at his reply, and Cloud knew then that he had hurt her by his refusal to let her share his pain. Before he could find the right words to form an apology, Tifa said grimly, "You only need to answer one question for me, Cloud." She drew back slightly and watched him with a serious expression. "Do you want me to whop Reno 's ass for you?"

The offer earned her a soft chuckle from Cloud— one that held more mirth than his previous false laugh. Tifa felt a bit of the pain inside her lessen at the sound.

It didn't matter in the end that Cloud didn't answer her question.

xXxXxXx

Reno blinked his glazed eyes. "Elena told you what?"

"That you blame her for what she did that day." Rude slid onto the barstool next to his increasingly inebriated work partner. "You know, the day when she killed—"

Reno hissed, almost as if he was in pain. "Don't say it."

Rude raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"That man's name. Don't say it. In my current mood, I don't think I can hear his name without wanting to smash someone's face in."

"Right." Rude ordered a scotch on the rocks and watched the bartender prepare his drink. He took a sip and savored the burn of alcohol on his tongue while trying to find the words to continue his conversation with his moody colleague. "So, do you blame her?"

Reno knocked back another shot of vodka. "Why are we even talking about this now? I thought you'd be more curious about what happened yesterday."

"We'll get to that later," Rude promised as he took another sip of his liquor. He had to watch his intake carefully if he wanted to go about his interrogation with a clear head. "Right now, I'm sort of obligated to find out whether everything is cool between you and Elena. She feels guilty for what happened."

"This is ridiculous. It's not my place to forgive her or not." Reno 's expression darkened. "If anything, I should be grateful for what she did."

The shot glass in Rude's grasp nearly slipped out of his fingers. "You're… grateful?"

"I'm not a nice person, Rude. I can't help feeling glad when I see the only rival I had that mattered die a horrible death."

"You can't possibly mean that."

"Believe it. I'm that much of a bastard." Reno stared balefully at the bartender until the man received the subliminal message and hastily went about getting another glass of vodka for him. "A selfish bastard who would do anything to get what he wants. If I had the guts years ago, I'd've pulled the trigger myself."

"And the reason why you're giving Elena the cold shoulder is…?"

"It's just much more difficult, ya know…" Reno fished out the slice of lime in his glass and started gulping down the new shot of vodka when it arrived. "…To compete with a dead guy instead of a live one." Reno was gripping the glass so tightly that his whole hand trembled.

Rude quietly pried Reno 's fingers off the glass and took it away from him before the red-haired Turk could hurt himself. "Did Strife know? About who killed… the-man-whose-name-I can't-say-for-fear-of-having-my-pretty-face-disfigured?"

Reno snickered at his feeble joke. "He was there when it happened… but I don't think he remembers any of it. His mind was pretty messed up after that incident. He doesn't even remember…" Reno fell silent.

Rude finished his sentence for him. "He doesn't even remember you."

A long moment of silence passed. "I need another drink," Reno said finally.

Rude looked down at the empty glass in his hand. "So do I."

xXxXxXx

By the time Reno was done spilling his guts and confessing to all his dastardly deeds of the previous night, he was drunk up to his eyeballs and was incapable of putting one foot in front of the other. With many grumbles and long suffering sighs, Rude carried Reno out of the bar. To his chagrin, Rude realized that he had forgotten to organize his transport back home and suddenly found himself in the unpleasant position of having to carry Reno all the way back to… No, he would look for a nearby inn to stay overnight. That would be the smarter choice. He began walking down one of the better lit streets with Reno draped over his back.

Despite Reno 's drunken state, the redhead was still capable of carrying on a somewhat coherent conversation. "So, what do you think of my chances?"

"It's hopeless, Reno ," said Rude, shaking his head. "I don't think Strife would ever forgive you for what you've done. Why did you do it, by the way? Your actions don't make any sense. You're not stupid, no matter how hard you try to convince the rest of the world that you are. You've got to know that destroying those treasured mementos of his would only make him hate you." A startling thought suddenly occurred to Rude. "Were you deliberately trying to make him hate you?"

"Hell, no... Yes... I don't know!" Reno shouted in an aggrieved tone. Reno started flailing his arms about and Rude had to quickly readjust his grip so that the redhead wouldn't fall off and land his backside on the asphalt road. "I don't know what I was doing anymore! I wanted to test him! I wanted to see the extent to which he would go to get those items back. If only he had refused… If he'd only given me a tiny sliver of hope, then I wouldn't have become so angry. Then I wouldn't have completely lost it and… I actually wanted to hurt him. I wanted to make him feel a tiny fraction of what I was going through. Gods, I'm a vindictive, despicable asshole, aren't I? I can't believe I made him… Do you know the only other time I've ever seen him cry was when that SOLDIER traitor died? Now Cait Sith is going to put thumbtacks in my shoes, shave off all my hair in my sleep and set my apartment on fire, and I would totally deserve it!"

"Okay… I think I was able to follow everything right up to the Cait Sith part," said Rude slowly. "Why would Reeve want to sic his robot cat on you?"

"I promised him that I wouldn't do something, but I did it anyway." Reno snorted defiantly. "Hah! Serves him right for being so gullible as to trust the word of a Turk. He should've stopped me when he had the chance. Fool!"

Rude was having increasing difficulty making sense of Reno 's tangential, random ramblings. He could feel a major headache coming on, on top of the major hangover that was already building up.

But Reno wasn't finished with his drunken ramblings. "Ya know what?"

_No, I don't know. And I'm pretty sure I don't even want to know. But you're going to tell me anyway._ "What?"

"I say screw Cloud!"

Rude couldn't pass over the chance to jibe at his partner. "I thought that was what you were trying to do. And failing miserably, I might add."

"No more wisecracks from you, smart-ass," Reno growled. "Screw him, I say! I don't need him and his eternal gloominess and angsty-ness! I bet I'd get the life force sucked out of me or something just by standing too close to him. If he loves to wallow in the pits of his misery so much, why should I join him? You know the expression 'misery loves company'? Well, that's certainly not the case for his royal emo-ness! He hates company, whether he's in misery or not! So why should I continue to allow my feelings to get trampled upon by him again and again? Ya know what the worst thing is? He doesn't even know that he's doing it! He doesn't know anything! He buries his head in a hole in the ground, sees what he wants to see, hears what he wants to hear, and never once opens his eyes to the possibility that… that…"

"That you love him?" said Rude softly.

"No! Take that back! I most definitely do not love that self-absorbed son of a bitch!" Rude noted that Reno was also most definitely drunk. "Hmph! Okay, so I might possibly have cared about that clueless jerk at one point in time. A teensy weensy bit. Maybe. But not now! Oh, definitely not now! He doesn't give a damn about anyone else, so why should I? For all I care, he can go and… and…"

When Reno remained quiet for too long, Rude helpfully suggested, "Jump off a cliff?"

Without warning, Reno 's arms suddenly wrapped around his neck and squeezed. "Gack!" Rude choked and stumbled, but managed to pull himself upright before both of them ended up hugging the pavement. "What are you doing, you idiot?!"

"Tell me the truth, Rude." It was uncanny how Reno could sound so… sober so quickly. "No more bull-shitting me, this time. Was Cloud the one who saved me from the fire that day?"

"What…?" Rude's head was spinning from the abrupt change in topic, and probably from the lack of oxygen to his brain as well. "How did you…?"

Reno cut him off, "Was he?!"

"Yes," Rude grunted. "When I arrived at the scene, I saw him carrying you out of the building over his back. You weren't fully conscious at the time. He…" It then occurred to Rude how Reno had figured it out. "He's much shorter than me, isn't he?"

"Yeah, his shoulders are narrower too." Reno 's chokehold around his neck had eased off significantly, but not fully. "I can't believe you've kept this from me."

"Hey, even couples who have been married for years still keep secrets from each other, so I don't see why—"

"You asshole!" Reno 's chokehold returned in full force.

"Sorry," Rude wheezed out before the pressure around his windpipe began to ease again. "I didn't think it would help matters if you knew. The last thing I wanted to do was to add fuel to the fire of this obsession of yours. It's destroying you, Reno."

"I don't care. I need him, Rude." If Reno was in a right frame of mind, he would've been appalled by how pathetic he sounded at that moment. As he was not, the redhead even allowed a choked sob to escape his throat. "I need him…"

Rude was slightly overwhelmed by the intensity and rawness of the emotions bleeding out of Reno . Never before had he seen his carefree partner so unguarded and vulnerable. Rude let out a quiet sigh. Reno was beyond his help now. If it had been mere 'want' which, by definition, implied some sort of voluntary desire, Reno should be able to shake off his fixation on Cloud Strife with time. 'Need', on the other hand, was a whole different story…

"But… what chance do I have?" Despair crept into Reno 's voice. "That spiky-haired idiot would choose death. He would endure any humiliation; even go so far as making a whore of himself… all for a dead man. No, not even that…" Reno clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails drew blood from his palms. "He's willing to do all that for the mere memory of a dead man. Where does that leave me, Rude? How can I even begin to compete with… to destroy that kind of devotion?"

For a few minutes, neither of them spoke. Rude spent that time carefully weighing and deciding his next response. "Instead of seeking to destroy that part of Cloud, have you ever considered accepting it?" the taller Turk said finally. "If you truly lo… care about the spiky-haired idiot, wouldn't you accept the parts of him that drive you crazy as well; and not just the parts that make you care about him in the first place?"

An expression of surprise darted across Reno's face, followed closely by an indulgent, grateful grin. "You're actually encouraging me? What would Rufus say if he finds out?"

"Tell Rufus, and I will hunt you down and mount your stuffed head on the wall of our office lounge to be used as a dartboard," Rude deadpanned.

Reno chortled and rested his head on his partner's shoulder. "Why couldn't I fall for a guy like you instead, Rude?"

Rude's usually emotionless face contorted into a look of abject horror at the thought of that possibility. "Do that and I will do something much, much worse to your decapitated head."

"Aww, I love you too, buddy."

(_To be concluded… for real next time_)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary:** Reno will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Cloud finds this out the hard way. A prequel of sorts to "Snapshots."

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII characters belong to SquareSoft, now known as SquareEnix, I think. Whatever the case, I don't own them.

**Tactics**

**A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by ntc**

_Mission objective: Cohabitation with Cloud_

Early next morning saw Reno worshipping the porcelain god for a good thirty minutes before the green tinge in his face faded to a healthier-looking pasty white. The water and aspirin that Rude had passed to him were promptly gulped down, but just as promptly regurgitated into the toilet bowl. Reno groaned when the pounding in his temples began. He'd really overdone it with the alcohol yesterday and his body was now punishing him with the whole gamut of unpleasant sensations that accompany the mother of all hangovers.

When the action of opening his mouth was no longer accompanied by stomach-emptying nausea, Reno announced the next step of his master plan; a master plan which, to Rude's dismay, included him.

"There's no way I'm talking to Strife on your behalf. Do me a favor, Reno, and leave me out of your insane plans."

Reno utilized his best pleading voice, going so far as to include a faint hint of a puppy-dog whine. "Aw, come on. Show a little support to your partner here! I'll even do your weekend shifts for the next six months, what d'ya say?"

"Tempting but… No," said Rude flatly.

The whine in Reno's voice was more obvious this time. "Why?"

"I value _life_, Reno. Especially my own. After what you did to Strife, he might decide to take out his anger on me just because I'm associated with you."

"If it comes to that, I'll lend you my smoke bombs so that you can make a successful getaway."

"That's not the point!" Rude snapped. "I refuse to play the matchmaker in this disastrous courtship of yours. You're the one who needs to talk things out with him, not me."

"Alright, fine," grumbled Reno, pouting as fiercely as any ten-year-old who'd been denied access to his game console for a month. "At least help me out by arranging a meeting between us. I'll handle the rest."

"Why can't you go and meet him yourself instead of having him come to you?"

"You and I both know that he'd charge at me with that big-ass weapon of his swinging the second I step into his peripheral vision. If it's you, he's more likely to hear you out first before deciding to resort to violence. With any luck, he'll be in a less homicidal mood by the time he confronts me."

"That's easier said than done." Rude sighed. "I forgot to tell you that Strife is missing. Tifa Lockheart went into berserk mode yesterday trying to find him."

"Not anymore," replied Reno confidently. "He's now back in Seventh Heaven."

Rude gazed at his partner sharply. "How do you know that?"

"Easy. I planted a tracking device on his motorbike when he wasn't looking."

"Tracking device," Rude muttered, mildly impressed by the redhead's ingenuity and deviousness. "Anything else I should know before I confront him?"

"Oh yeah, as a precaution to stop him from leaving, I also sabotaged his motorbike with a little sugar in the gas tank."

"You did what?!" Rude went from mildly impressed to extremely horrified in the space of a heartbeat. "If Strife doesn't want to kill you before this, he most certainly does now!"

"Cloud doesn't know." Rude marveled at how calm and unconcerned Reno was. "And he doesn't need to know."

Almost afraid of discovering what further crimes his partner had committed (which was ironic, considering what their occupations entailed), Rude hurriedly stood up and made his way toward the exit. "I take it that you'll be staying in this inn for the rest of the day? I'll direct him to this place then."

"Thanks, man. Oh, and one more thing." Reno dug a set of keys out of his pocket and threw it at Rude, who deftly caught them in midair. "There's a package inside the safe in my apartment. My birth date opens the combination lock. Can you give it to Cloud when you see him?" Upon seeing Rude's face, Reno said, "Don't look so worried. It's just something that'll hopefully calm Cloud down if he decides to go nova on you."

xXxXxXx

The engine started, sputtered and died.

After several more failed attempts to start the engine, Cloud finally gave up and climbed off Fenrir. He spent the next few minutes glowering fiercely at the gleaming hulk of the mechanical beast, as if he could frighten it back into working condition if he glared hard enough. It was true that misfortune always came in twos or threes. As his luck would have it, the warranty for his motorcycle had expired last month. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why the Fenrir would suddenly break down. It had been working just fine on the day he went out with…

Cloud had to abruptly cut off the thought in order to quell his sudden impulse to kick his motorcycle and punch the garage wall. He didn't realize he was capable of feeling such strong, negative emotions before Reno… Oops. Damn. Tifa would definitely be questioning him later about that fist-sized hole in the wall. Now, where could he find a spare plank of wood and some tools?

"Did I catch you at a bad time, Strife?"

Cloud whirled and his fierce glower found a new target in the burly Turk who had just stepped into the garage. "What do you want?"

Rude held up both palms in a placating gesture. "Don't kill the messenger. I'm just here to tell you that Reno wishes to, uh, talk to you. Face to face, preferably."

A deep growl arose at the back of Cloud's throat. "Keep him far away from me, Rude. Because, right now, I don't think I can hold back from killing him if he gets within the range of my sword." Mako-blue eyes glinted like the sharp edge of a deadly blade. "I won't hold back anymore. I will really kill him this time."

"You're doing it again, Strife."

"Doing what?"

"You say you want to kill him, but at the same time you're asking me to keep him safe from harm. It's because of that damned ambivalent attitude of yours that Reno still hasn't given up yet. You only have yourself to blame for what happened."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud demanded. "What ambivalent attitude? I've threatened countless times to skin, gut, skewer, strangle, decapitate, maim and neuter that bastard if he so much as comes near me! Where's the ambivalence in that?"

"Pah! Empty threats. It's like shooting rubber bullets. You might as well not bother."

"They're not empty threats!" bellowed Cloud, his face flushing.

"The fact that Reno is not skinned, gutted, skewered, strangled, decapitated, maimed or neutered right now proves that they're empty threats," Rude pointed out logically. "If you're serious about wanting Reno dead all along, why did you save his life?"

A grimace of embarrassment crossed the blond swordsman's pale face, as if Rude had just accused him of running around nude in public. "Just because I want him dead doesn't mean I want him… dead." Cloud dropped his head onto his splayed fingers. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"

"No, you're not," Rude agreed. "You sealed your fate when you rescued him from that burning building. You've foolishly given him hope and now... Now, he'll never give up. He'll never give up on you."

"You told him." Cloud's tone was accusatory, even angry. "I told you not to tell him!"

"I didn't tell Reno anything, He deduced that on his own."

Cloud snorted in disbelief. "Pull the other leg. It has bells on it."

"Reno possesses more cunning, quick thinking and street smarts than you give him credit for, Strife. Rufus Shinra isn't a man who tolerates fools on his staff." There was an undertone of anger in the bald Turk's voice. It would appear that Rude was offended by the implied insult to his partner's intellect. "Reno acts like a fool only when it comes to anything that concerns you, and only you. Haven't you noticed that by now?"

"What?" Cloud stared at him, eyes wide with incredulity. "Are you saying that it's _my_ fault that he behaves like a spiteful, crazy prick?"

Rude did not even hesitate when he answered, "Yes."

"Get out of here. Now!" Cloud was so furious that his whole body was trembling. "I don't want to explain to Rufus why there's suddenly one Turk short on his staff."

"I don't presume to know why Reno does half the things he does, and I've known him better than most people. Who are you to label him as spiteful or crazy when you don't even know him that well?"

"He… Do you know what he did, Rude? Do you have any idea?"

"Reno said he burnt something important to you."

"If you know, then why are you…?"

"The keyword here is _said_," interrupted the Turk. He pulled a burlap sack from over his shoulder and dropped it on the ground. "I've been asked to return this to you."

Cloud eyed the sack warily. "Return?"

"I'll be waiting outside while you check to make sure nothing's missing. Give me a yell when you're done." With those parting words, Rude retreated outside and lit up a cigarette while he waited.

As Rude had predicted, it wasn't long before a thunderous roar of outrage erupted from within the garage. "What the hell? What the hell?!"

When the blond swordsman emerged from the garage, he looked, if it were at all possible, even more pissed off than he was before. So much for Reno's claim of the calming effects of the item. "Rude! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"As I've said, I don't presume to know why he does the things he does." Rude gestured towards the black car that was parked across the road. "Do you wish to speak with him now? To find out his reasons yourself?"

xXxXxXx

"Does it amuse you to put me through the emotional wringer like that, you sick bastard? Do you find it funny? Is it all some big, frigging joke to you?"

Reno had rehearsed in his mind what to say to Cloud upon meeting him, but all his preparations were for naught when the accusations started flying towards him like poison-tipped arrows. "Uh, hi Cloud."

"Answer me, you… you! I'm running out of adjectives to describe you. None of it does you any justice! Why did you do it, Reno?!"

Was there any answer he could give that wouldn't set the blond off? Probably not. Reno decided to counter the question with another question of his own. "Why did you save me from the fire, Cloud?"

"What? You," Cloud was momentarily pushed off balance by the question but he recovered quickly. "Don't change the subject! This isn't about me! It's about you!"

"No, it's about us," Reno asserted.

"What the hell are you talking about?! There is no us! There's you, trying to make my life a living hell for your own sick pleasure; and there's me, trying to live my life in peace!"

"Okay, fine! I apologize, dammit!" Reno spat angrily. Strange, his apology had sounded much more contrite when it was rehearsed in his own mind. "It wasn't meant to happen that way!"

"How was it meant to happen?! You told me you burnt those things when in actual fact you didn't! Why?"

"I already told you that I was a liar!" Reno hollered. "It's your own fault that you decided to believe me that time, Shorty!"

Cloud was stunned into speechlessness. Reno's twisted logic actually made some kind of weird sense. But it wasn't the redhead's retort that had stunned him so much as… "What did you call me?" Cloud whispered.

"Shorty. You know, as in vertically-challenged." Reno peered at him curiously. "Why? Did I hit a sore spot or something?"

Cloud was shaking his head in confusion. "Zack never called me Shorty." Zack had called him Spiky mostly, and Chocobo-head occasionally; but never Shorty. The SOLDIER had known how sensitive Cloud was about his height.

"Well, no surprise there, Einstein!" Reno's voice turned harsh and nasty as jealousy surged through him. "If you're capable of pulling your head out of your own ass, you'd notice that I am NOT ZACK!"

"Reno," said Cloud sharply.

"WHAT?!" Reno was past caring about how his irrational behavior was ruining his chances with the blond. Even the mere thought of Cloud _thinking_ about Zack was enough to send him into a fit of rage. Was Cloud deliberately trying to drive him up the wall by uttering that name to his face?

"Shut up." Cloud suddenly reached up and seized a lock of red hair between his fingers, causing Reno to jerk his head back in surprise. Zack hadn't been the only one with long, messy hair. "You. You're the one." Cloud swallowed. That wasn't a dream. He hadn't been dreaming. He had been _remembering_.

Reno looked confused as hell; not that Cloud blamed him. "I am the one?"

Cloud let go of Reno's hair and staggered back as if the weight of the knowledge was a physical blow. Perhaps. Perhaps this was the reason why he couldn't find it in his heart to hate Reno, no matter what the Turk did to him. For the longest time, he had felt safe in Reno's presence, despite their being on opposite sides of the AVALANCHE vs. Shinra conflict. Cloud never knew the reason for his implicit trust of the redhead. Until today.

"What do you mean, 'I am the one'? The one you worship? The one you can't live without? The one you want to have hot, steamy man sex with? What?" prodded the redhead unabashedly.

Cloud slapped a hand against his forehead and dragged it down his face in disgust. No, he couldn't deal with this right now. For the sake of his own sanity, he needed some time away from Reno so that he could sort out his jumbled memories. He needed time to work out exactly what Reno meant to him; both in the past and in the present.

Cloud took a step toward the door, but Reno immediately moved to block his path. With a snarl, the blond twisted to sidestep the other man, only to have his progress halted by a hand clamping down on his left arm. Cloud clenched his free hand into a fist, but couldn't quite bring himself to deck the redhead across the jaw. Rude was right. He was only capable of empty threats after all.

"If you want all your appendages to remain attached, you would let go of me this instant, Turk," Cloud hissed, wishing fervently that Reno wouldn't call his bluff.

Reno's grip on his arm only tightened further in response. "So you're just going to run away? Like a coward? Nothing ever gets resolved if you keep avoiding the issue, Cloud."

Reno was standing so close that Cloud was sorely tempted to head butt him to widen the space between them. Why couldn't the redhead just leave him alone? What right did Reno have to bulldoze his way into his life and expect things from him? He didn't owe Reno anything. He didn't owe anyone anything. "What can I do to make you leave me alone?" said Cloud wearily. "Tell me, Reno, and I'll do it."

Inevitably, Reno's mind became swamped by too many ideas (1) at the innocent offer. He doubted that Cloud was even aware of the position he had placed himself in by making that statement. In spite of what he would have liked to say in reply to Cloud's question, Reno also knew that what he truly wanted was the exact opposite of what Cloud was demanding from him.

"What I want is to not leave you alone. What I want is for you to stop trying to repel me in a knee-jerk reflex and let me into your life."

Cloud gaped at him, a stupefied expression on his face. The blond's open mouth was practically an invitation for Reno to delve his tongue into that sweet cavern, but his conscience (or was it his survival instincts?) forcefully reined in all his lecherous intents.

"That doesn't solve the problem, you idiot!" Cloud yelled in exasperation.

"I agree," said Reno, smirking lightly. "So my question to you is this: What can I do to make you accept me? Tell me, Cloud, and I'll do it."

xXxXxXx

_A week later…_

"I see that you've given in to Reno's request."

Cloud looked up from where he was doing his repair work on his motorcycle to exchange a glance with Rude who was leaning casually against the wall of the garage. "You don't sound surprised."

"I know my partner. You didn't have a snowball's chance in hell, Strife."

Due to the lack of a suitable comeback, Cloud merely grunted in response.

"So what did you make Reno do? He was a bit fuzzy on the details."

Cloud shrugged. "My condition is for Reno to keep his distance for a period of one year. If he can do that, I might consider letting him live with me."

"I'm surprised he agreed to that. I would imagine that Reno would've put up a major fuss, protested like mad and wailed like a banshee."

"He did," said Cloud with a twitch of his lips. "So, I gave him an alternative. He can either stay away from me for one year, or he can try winning Denzel and Tifa's approval instead."

"Ah. It's no wonder that he chose the former option then." Rude spent a few moments in silent contemplation before he spoke again. "I hope you're not underestimating Reno's determination, Strife. A year from now, you'll have to keep your end of the bargain, whether you like it or not."

"But at least I'll get one year of peace, right?"

Rude smiled. So, the blond was not as big a fool as he thought. "That was your intention all along?"

"Of course."

xXxXxXx

_A year later, minus one week…_

"Today's the day," said Tifa solemnly, as if she was seeing someone off at the funeral.

"Yeah," mumbled Cloud, dreading what the day would bring, but also somewhat relieved that the wait was finally over. Now he understood why there were prisoners on lifelong sentences who would much prefer the death sentence. Sometimes, the wait before the dreaded event could be just as bad as the event itself.

During the past year, he had slowly established his delivery service. With the profits he had earned from the job, he was able to rent an apartment of his own and move out of Seventh Heaven. Tifa had not been pleased with his decision, but she had bravely hidden her disappointment behind forced smiles. There were times when he wanted to apologize to her for the callous way he had spurned her hospitality, but she would always cut him off before he could say the words aloud. She had understood his need for solitude, and didn't try to contest it; unlike a certain annoying, intrusive and obnoxious redhead.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay? Do you want me to check up on you later today?"

"That won't be necessary," Cloud assured her, sounding more confident than he felt. "I've given my word, so I'm more or less stuck with him until..." His face fell when a thought occurred to him.

"What's wrong, Cloud? You look… ill."

"I just realized that I hadn't set a time limit on this whole trial of cohabitation with Reno. Damn, what was I thinking?"

"Does that mean you'll be living together until one of you decides to move out?" It was difficult for Tifa to keep the tone of envy out of her polite enquiry.

Cloud grimaced. "Or until one of us decides to kill the other. Yes."

"Don't worry, Cloud," Denzel piped up eagerly. "I'd be more than happy to help you get rid of that creep. Just say the word and I'll be there in a flash to kick him out of your apartment."

"Thanks for the offer, Denzel." Smiling, Cloud reached out and ruffled the orphan's curly hair. Cloud found that he didn't have to bend down as much as before to make eye contact with the boy. Denzel had definitely hit a growth spurt in the past year."

"Here, take this." Tifa handed a coil of rope to him. At Cloud's questioning look, she explained, "I know how soft-hearted you can be, Cloud; so there will be times when you can't lash out for fear of causing serious injury to the other party, even when you may wish to. This rope will help you keep Reno in check without causing any physical harm to him."

Cloud studied the gift as if he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. "Uh, thanks. I think." The blond placed the rope in one of the compartments in his motorcycle before climbing onto the seat and starting the engine. "I'll drop by tomorrow morning to pick up any packages addressed to the outer suburbs of Midgar. I'll see you then."

Woman and boy watched silently as Fenrir drove off and disappeared into the distance.

"Damned if I'm gonna just stand by and do nothing while that pervert schemes to get into Cloud's pants," Denzel swore under his breath. "I'm staying over at Cloud's place this weekend."

Tifa lifted a hand to her mouth to hide a smile. "I don't think Reno would like that."

"All the more reason for me to do it."

xXxXxXx

"How did you get in here?" Cloud demanded when he opened the door to his apartment to find his home already invaded by the red-haired Turk that he had been dreading to see. A small hill of luggage bags and sealed cardboard boxes was cluttering up a corner of his living room. Cloud wasn't surprised to see that Reno still hadn't changed in the slightest, both in appearance and behavior.

"Through the front door," answered Reno as he continued to place cans of beer in the fridge.

_Smart-ass._ Cloud scowled. "You jimmied the lock?"

"I don't need to." Reno smiled fiendishly. "Your landlord gave me the keys to the place."

"He gave you the keys?" Cloud's tone was skeptical.

"After a little persuasion, of course. You see, the moment I threaten to show his wife incriminating photos of him drinking margaritas and licking salt and lime off a bar hostess's..."

"That's too much information!" Cloud raised his voice to drown out the rest of what Reno was about to say. "You could've waited for me to come back and open the door for you. Was the blackmail really necessary?"

"Look on the bright side. At least this way, we don't have to worry about paying the rent anymore."

Cloud shot Reno a disapproving glare which ricocheted off the immoral redhead harmlessly. "That's criminal, Reno."

"Your point?"

A dull ache was gradually making itself felt in Cloud's forehead. "I'm not in the mood to argue with you right now. Just… Just leave other people out of this, okay? I'm the one who agreed to endure this punishment. No one else."

Reno frowned. "You consider living with me to be a form of punishment?"

"Wouldn't you?" It was oddly comforting how quickly he and Reno had resumed their good-humored bickering. It was as if the year of separation between them had never occurred.

"You're only saying that because you've yet to appreciate the finer points of my character. You'll soon find out that I'm the best housemate a person can ask for." Reno tossed a can of beer at Cloud, which was easily caught with one hand. "For starters, your fridge will always be well stocked with alcoholic beverages with me around."

"That's only a good thing if I'm determined to become an alcoholic."

"Bah, there's just no pleasing some people," Reno complained in a much put-upon voice. The Turk opened another can of beer for himself. "Just drink up your beer quietly and celebrate this day with me."

"What's there to celebrate?"

"Our first day together." Reno deliberately kept the statement vague to allow Cloud to draw his own conclusions about what he meant. He tapped the beer can in Cloud's hand with his own. "Don't deny it. You've been waiting for this day as eagerly as me, haven't you?"

Cloud rolled his eyes at Reno's assumption. "I wasn't even expecting you to succeed in keeping your part of the bargain. Right until the very end, I was hoping that you'd slip up so that I wouldn't need to go through with this ghastly cohabitation business with you."

Reno snorted. "You're a terrible liar, Cloud."

"What makes you think I'm lying?" Cloud growled.

"The fact that you rented a three-bedroom apartment." It was quite amusing to see Cloud attempt to hide his faint blush by turning his face away. "Now why would you do that unless you're expecting someone, namely yours truly, to move in with you?" Reno smirked.

"I need the extra rooms," said Cloud defensively. "I use one of the rooms as a dark room to develop my photos."

"I'll buy that excuse for now. But what would you need the third room for?"

"The extra bedroom serves as a handy guest room. Tifa stays over sometimes." Cloud knew that it was the wrong thing to say when veins suddenly stood out in Reno's neck like bicycle brake cables. The Turk looked absolutely livid with rage for a split second before the emotion was carefully hidden behind a cool mask.

There was a definite note of warning in Reno's voice when he spoke. "If we are to make this work, Cloud, you need to be aware of certain ground rules."

"Ground rules?"

"Yes. And Rule No.1 states that you are not allowed to engage in, speak of, or in any way hint of, any sexual escapades with other people in this apartment."

"First of all, Tifa and I are just friends. And second of all..." Cloud took a deep breath before he exploded, "If you haven't noticed, this is **my** apartment, you dolt! You're not in the position to establish ground rules of any kind!"

"Hey, if you don't follow the rules, I won't be held accountable for my actions."

"... What will you do?"

"Trust me when I say that you don't want to find out."

"Right." Cloud rubbed his aching brow. "It hasn't even been ten minutes, and you're already threatening me while I feel like strangling you. Twice. This is never going to work."

"It will work if we follow the ground rules," Reno insisted stubbornly.

Cloud decided then that it was pointless to argue further. He shut himself in the dark room to avoid Reno for the rest of the morning.

xXxXxXx

"Cloud?" When there was no audible reply from the other side of the door, Reno continued, "Um… I'm hungry."

Silence.

"We both saw how my last cooking venture fared. So, for the sake of this apartment and everyone living in it, I think you should do the cooking."

More silence.

"Or we can eat out," said Reno hastily, somehow sensing the ominous vibes that had started to radiate from within the room. "If you want."

Even more silence.

Reno sighed, swallowed his pride and shouted in a rush, "I'm sorry if I acted like an insane, jealous freak just now!"

The door creaked open to reveal a glowering Cloud, his unnaturally bright eyes glowing softly in the darkened room. "You should be."

"Look, it came out wrong, okay? Can you blame me for snapping like that when you so openly flaunt..." Reno shut up abruptly when Cloud's eyes narrowed in warning.

"Tifa is a respectable woman; and for you to even suggest that she's easy is a grave insult that would've earned you a hacked limb or two if I weren't feeling so charitable."

"Okay, I'll accept that she's not easy." Reno knew that he should drop the subject then and there if he knew what was good for him. But then again, since when had he ever listened to his inner voice of reason? "What about you? Are you easy?"

Cloud shook his head, partly in anger but mostly in amazement at the other man's audacity. "What is it with your ridiculous fascination with my sex life anyway? Frankly, it's starting to creep me out a little."

"Only because it's a complete mystery to me," lied Reno easily. "I'm just curious, that's all."

"Fine, if answering your stupid question is what it takes for you to stop pestering me about it once and for all, I've never done it, okay? Be it with a woman or a man. So there you have it. The truth about my sex life is that I don't even have one!" The utterly stunned expression on Reno's face would've made the confession worthwhile if Cloud didn't think that the Turk was most likely laughing his head off behind that blank look.

"Never?" Reno breathed in awe, as if he was speaking of something that was too good to be true.

Cloud could feel his cheeks warming up. "Go ahead and laugh. Don't bust a gut holding it in."

"Never?" repeated Reno. If Cloud possessed any telepathy, he would've picked up four distinct words blazing across the entire landscape of the Turk's mind at that moment-- _Mission objective: Cloud's virginity_. As the blond fighter didn't possess any telepathy, he only frowned in puzzlement when Reno's eyes lit up with irrepressible joy and eager anticipation.

"Can we drop this subject already?" He really didn't like the way Reno was looking at him, which was not unlike that of a starving carnivore eyeing a juicy piece of steak. "This will be the last time you're allowed to question me about my private life, got it?"

"Got it," said Reno, grinning so widely that his eyes had nearly squinted shut. "Anything you say, Cloud."

"Uh," Cloud found Reno's agreeable behavior to be even more unsettling and difficult to handle. He was almost hoping that Reno would start acting like an asshole again so that they could go back to yelling at each other. At least he knew how to react in those situations. "So, um, you were saying that you're hungry?"

"I'm absolutely famished," Reno purred, sidling closer to him.

"You can have the leftover lamb casserole in the fridge." Cloud hid his apprehension behind a calm demeanor and fought down the urge to step back into the dark room. God knew what that could potentially lead to.

"I can think of other things I'd like to have for lunch."

Cloud had enough presence of mind _not_ to respond to that statement. Using his enhanced speed, Cloud maneuvered his way around Reno and into the living room. "We can have lunch later. I think we should unpack your stuff first, don't you agree?"

Reno clearly looked disappointed by his reaction, but didn't choose to pursue the matter further. Cloud had an uncomfortable feeling that the Turk was merely biding his time. "Sure. Why not? Pass me that bag at the top of the pile, will you?"

Cloud complied with a great degree of enthusiasm, leaping at the chance to keep himself busy so that he wouldn't need to think about why his heart was currently beating at a post-marathon rate. However, he wasn't as calm as he pretended to be, for the bag slipped out of his unexpectedly clumsy fingers and spilled its contents all over the floor. "Sorry!" Cloud hurriedly knelt down to gather the scattered items up; shaving cream, comb, toothbrush, dental floss and… handcuffs?

Holding up the handcuffs, Cloud cast a disturbed look at Reno. "Why would you have something like this?"

"Oh, _that_," said Reno with a dismissive wave of a hand. "I brought them with me in case we have a use for them one day. Since you're so proficient in tying people up, I assume that you wouldn't be averse to some kink in our sex life."

Cloud blinked, not quite believing his ears. "Our... what?"

"What? Do you think I'm moving in here just to watch T.V. and do household chores with you? I have healthy urges that need to be satisfied. You owe me."

"Excuse me?" Cloud opened and closed his mouth several times before he found his voice again. "Do you actually think," Cloud was interrupted by a loud, honking noise from downstairs.

"Hold on a minute," said Reno as he walked towards the balcony. "That might be the delivery van with our new king-sized bed."

"Our new... what?!" Cloud nearly screeched.

Reno appeared not to have noticed the note of shocked outrage in Cloud's voice. "I even chose one with these sturdy bed posts that would be perfect for... Why are you glaring at me like that?"

"I like my own bed just fine." Cloud enunciated each word in clipped, dangerous tones.

"If we use your single bed, one of us will have to sleep on top of the other. Not that I mind, but I don't think you'd get much sleep with me squashing you all the time."

"Squash..." Cloud rubbed the bridge of his nose in an effort to ease the pain that had blossomed between his eyes. He now recognized the pain for what it was; strongly suppressed killing intent. "Stay right where you are. I'm just going to fetch something from my motorcycle."

xXxXxXx

On the top floor of the Shinra building, two men were taking turns using a pair of binoculars to observe the redhead dangling from the balcony of an apartment complex by a rope tied around his ankles.

"Aren't you going to help him?" asked the shorter man wearing a white, impeccable suit. "That's a distress signal if I ever saw one."

The taller of the two, who wore a contrasting black suit, merely shrugged. "I'm sure Reno must've done something to deserve it. Besides, this is what he wanted all along, so he might as well get used to it."

"I'm surprised at you," the man in the white suit remarked. "Your loyalty towards him had made me jealous on a few occasions. Where's that loyalty now?"

"You'd feel the same way if you'd been the one having to put up with his constant whining for the past year, sir."

"Ah. Let us hope that things will improve, now that he has finally achieved his objective."

"We can only hope, sir."

"Of course, there's a greater possibility that Reno's sexual frustration will make him even more impossible to work with from now on."

The man in the black suit groaned.

(_End of fic_)

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(1) The majority of which are X rated and best left undisclosed in consideration of the delicate sensibilities of anyone reading this fic.

**A/N:** Heh heh, this is my idea of a happy ending; though some of you may disagree. For the sake of our entertainment, Reno's suffering shall continue for years to come. At one stage, I was seriously considering writing a sequel to this fic with the new mission objective that was mentioned in this chapter. However, I doubt I have to courage to pull it off :P

Once again, I'd like to thank **kazuhiko** for taking the time and effort to proofread the last two chapters for me, despite the state of her health. I hope this story has been as entertaining to read as it has been to write. Thank you for all your support and comments. Cheerio.


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